Takedown Report

Senate Passes Protect College Sports Act, Moves On to House

The bill next goes to the House for a vote.
On Monday, the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) passed the Senate with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 77–22.

“We are here, at long last, on the verge of something historic,” PCSA co-sponsor, Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), said Monday night.

The vote, which took six hours between debate and amendment consideration, was historic. Over the past six years, the NCAA and power conferences have spent well over $10 million combined lobbying for Congressional intervention in college sports. But no college sports bill has even made it to the floor of the House or Senate—until now.

The PCSA was introduced in May by Sens. Cruz, Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.), Eric Schmitt (R., Mo.) and Chris Coons (D., Del.). Cruz and Cantwell have been embroiled in negotiations over bill text for months. Cruz himself has been negotiating with various Democrats for the better part of three years. 

A New Framework

The current version of the PCSA would:
Prohibit power conferences from merging or expanding beyond 20 members 
Double the revenue-sharing cap and codify NIL (name, image, and likeness) rights for college athletes, but implement measures to limit cap-circumvention
Create a one-time transfer and implement a five-year, age-based eligibility policy 
Impose restrictions on agents and limit coaching transfers
Offer a limited antitrust exemption and preemption of state laws to enforce transfer, eligibility, and player compensation restrictions 
Require schools to maintain certain health and safety standards and require schools that make more than $80 million per year maintain Olympic and women’s sports participation … more at … https://frontofficesports.com/article/college-sports-bill-glides-through-senate-with-bipartisan-vote/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

October 5, 2026 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized