Protect College Sports Act, explained: What to know about bipartisan bill that aims to limit transfers, cap spending, more

As coaches and administrators clamor for a way to curb the rampant changes that have overtaken college sports in the NIL era, many have looked toward the government as a way to fix it.

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at making sweeping changes to college sports, including transfer rules, but the validity of those executive orders is in doubt.

Congress could have more power to implement real changes, and the first step was taken on Wednesday when two senators agreed on a bipartisan bill that would overhaul college sports.

Here's what you need to know about the Protect College Sports Act.

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Protect College Sports Act, explained

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell agreed to the parameters of a bill that would drastically change how college sports operate. Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt and Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, also members of opposing parties, helped craft the bill.

Transfer rules

The Protect College Sports Act would limit athletes to one transfer without penalty. Another transfer would require a player to sit out one season, with an exception for a coaching change. 

The bill would also include a "narrow antitrust exemption" for the NCAA, The Athletic reports, aiming to protect the organization from lawsuits that challenge transfer rules. The NCAA has suffered numerous losses in court related to eligibility rules, and those losses have restricted the organization's ability to rein in transfers and, in some cases, players returning to college sports after turning professional.

'Lane Kiffin rule'

Included in the bill is a rule dubbed the "Lane Kiffin rule," which would prevent coaches from leaving their team before the end of a season.

Five-year eligibility

The bill would introduce a five-year eligibility window and prevent professional athletes from returning to college sports. The NCAA has said recently that it is considering implementing a rule that allows athletes to compete in college sports over a five-year window, which would also have age-based limits. 

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Enforcement against third-party NIL deals

The 2025 house settlement allowed the NCAA to implement revenue sharing and a cap on what programs could spend on players, but schools have skirted those rules by redirecting money to supposed third-party organizations who then spend the money on players as NIL payments. The bill aims to give the College Sports Commission more ability to enforce policies that prohibit the use of third-party organizations to skirt the spending rules.

As part of the bill, however, the spending cap can increase so as not to prevent athletes from making as much money as possible. 

Anti-'super league' rules

The bill would prevent any conference "earning more than $1 billion in revenue on its 2025 tax returns from merging or consolidating with another conference," Yahoo Sports reports. That language applies to the Big Ten and SEC and aims to prevent either conference from breaking off and forming a "super league."

Option to pool media rights

The bill includes a voluntary option that would allow conferences the ability to pool their media rights to create more revenue. Rights can only be pooled if at least 75 percent of FBS schools agree, and because of the financial implications, there likely would not be a path to doing so without the Big Ten and SEC signing on.

If rights are pooled, language in the bill would require schools to re-establish regional rivalries in some cases.

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Did the Protect College Sports Act pass?

The Protect College Sports Act has only been introduced by Senators Cruz and Cantwell. The mere fact that it's a bipartisan bill, crafted by senators from different parties, gives some hope that it could gain traction, but the bill would need to garner 60 votes in the Senate and get fully pushed through Congress before heading to President Trump's desk. Changes to the bill could be made along the way.

Congress has previously weighed other bills aimed at overhauling college sports, but none have come particularly close to passing.