Protect college sports act of 2026

[MNRodent]

Passed the senate yesterday by vote of 77-22.  Moves on to House of Representatives.

 

Key Provisions of the Bill

Category	Proposed Regulation / Rule
Revenue Sharing & NIL	Codifies the House settlement revenue cap, raising direct school-to-athlete sharing to roughly $49 million (including $5 million for Olympic/nonrevenue sports) and requiring disclosure for NIL earnings over $600.
Transfers & Eligibility	Restricts student-athletes to one "free" transfer without sitting out a year and enforces a strict 5-year eligibility window.
Conference Realignment	Caps Power 4 conference membership at 20 schools and sets a 3-year independent waiting period for switching conferences.
Student-Athlete Protections	Guarantees 5 years of post-eligibility healthcare, scholarship protections, agent fee caps (5%), and an Office of the Student-Athlete Ombudsman.
Coach & Team Rules	Prohibits football coaches from quitting mid-season for another job and prevents major colleges from dropping women's and Olympic sports.

[RAFWiki]

"prevents major colleges from dropping women's and Olympic sports"

NMU being forced at gunpoint to keep Greco

[MPhillips]

 

[The Kid]

The scoundrels will go back to the under the table payments imo.  The SEC is behind this act because they don't have the revenue of the B1G.

[Nak21]

Seems like some good parts in there, but I wish the Schools and NCAA could’ve figured something out (I know, I know) because I don’t like when Congress gets involved in just about anything. Pipe dream would’ve been provisions to not just protect Olympic sports from being cut but to somehow resurrect some that have been cut over the decades. 

[Fletcher]

I don't see a downside for college wrestling. It may kneepcap a few QBs and point guards on track for $10MM paydays.

[The Kid]

14 hours ago, Fletcher said:

I don't see a downside for college wrestling. It may kneepcap a few QBs and point guards on track for $10MM paydays.

They just go back to paying them under the table. Just like the old days of slush funds, fake jobs, con jobs, etc.

[ionel]

31 minutes ago, The Kid said:

They just go back to paying them under the table. Just like the old days of slush funds, fake jobs, con jobs, etc.

If the NCAA couldn't/wouldn't enforce the rules how will the Fed Govt enforce them.  What are they gonna do bring Carl in front of a Senate subcommittee meeting?  

[Warm Up Champ]

College sports are already dead.  What are we protecting?

[WrestlingRash]

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’"

Ronald Regan

I have a hard time see this as one of the most important issues that our political class should be spending time on. Perhaps the debt cliff, oil, war and immigration are more pressing? not to mention the affordable housing crisis and inflationary concerns. But sure, lets pass laws about college sports. That will help!!

[romeo07]

There needs to be a buyout clause for the free transfer year to mitigate poaching talent. Smaller schools should be compensated for the time and effort they put in to recruiting and development.

Something that I think that would be feasible would be any college that receives a student athlete for their free transfer year should have to reimburse the school the athlete transferred from one full year of out-of-state tuition and room & boarding costs.

Universities that pay their athletes can easily absorb these costs, easing the pressure on smaller programs that risk losing their top talent

Edited October 2 by romeo07

[Warm Up Champ]

Where are you all at with college sports in general compared to 5-10 years ago?  College sports have rapidly lost my interest over the recent years.  I used to love watching college football but honestly only catch a game or so every few weeks at most.  If I'm going to watch paid athletes I will watch the NFL hands down.   I also hate to admit it but I am slowly losing interest in college wrestling.  The proliferation of money in our sport, the transfer portal carousel, and the current need for wrestlers to cultivate a "brand" is really off putting.  There is not much parity in college sports and it is really sickening to me the widening gap between the haves and have nots.  For me college sports has totally lost the script of what it should be.

[The Kid]

5 hours ago, Warm Up Champ said:

Where are you all at with college sports in general compared to 5-10 years ago?  College sports have rapidly lost my interest over the recent years.  I used to love watching college football but honestly only catch a game or so every few weeks at most.  If I'm going to watch paid athletes I will watch the NFL hands down.   I also hate to admit it but I am slowly losing interest in college wrestling.  The proliferation of money in our sport, the transfer portal carousel, and the current need for wrestlers to cultivate a "brand" is really off putting.  There is not much parity in college sports and it is really sickening to me the widening gap between the haves and have nots.  For me college sports has totally lost the script of what it should be.

I hate to break the news to you, but college football players were always getting paid.  Either under the table, fake jobs, no show jobs, clinics, etc.  They also were given half assed degrees with paid tutors so they wouldn't have flunked out.  

There's always been the have and have nots.  I'm actually glad the athletes are getting paid. The schools make billions off of them. The coaches make millions as well.  The kids deserve something, because the football team funds the entire athletic department. 

Edited October 2 by The Kid

[Idaho]

On 9/29/2026 at 8:13 AM, RAFWiki said:

"prevents major colleges from dropping women's and Olympic sports"

NMU being forced at gunpoint to keep Greco

It's a national training site not an NCAA team. 

[Idaho]

15 hours ago, The Kid said:

I hate to break the news to you, but college football players were always getting paid.  Either under the table, fake jobs, no show jobs, clinics, etc.  They also were given half assed degrees with paid tutors so they wouldn't have flunked out.  

There's always been the have and have nots.  I'm actually glad the athletes are getting paid. The schools make billions off of them. The coaches make millions as well.  The kids deserve something, because the football team funds the entire athletic department. 

A large majority of football programs lose money. They are not making billions for their schools. 

Yes, some were paid under the table to go to a school, but the rule changes coupled with NIL is vastly different. It used to be a 1 year penalty for transferring and that was the big deterrent to trying to poach other athletes. You would have to pay them to sit, which was not going to happen. It's not just about a kid getting paid, it's the rules that allowed the wild west. 

[The Kid]

2 hours ago, Idaho said:

A large majority of football programs lose money. They are not making billions for their schools. 

Yes, some were paid under the table to go to a school, but the rule changes coupled with NIL is vastly different. It used to be a 1 year penalty for transferring and that was the big deterrent to trying to poach other athletes. You would have to pay them to sit, which was not going to happen. It's not just about a kid getting paid, it's the rules that allowed the wild west. 

A large majority of football programs lose majority of money? Can you post the ones that are losing money?

[ionel]

1 hour ago, The Kid said:

A large majority of football programs lose majority of money? Can you post the ones that are losing money?

Be easier to post the few that make money don't you think? 

[boconnell]

On 10/1/2026 at 12:58 PM, Warm Up Champ said:

College sports are already dead.  What are we protecting?

Don't turn on the TV today if you want to hold that opinion.

[Warm Up Champ]

25 minutes ago, boconnell said:

Don't turn on the TV today if you want to hold that opinion.

That was my plan

[Fletcher]

20 hours ago, The Kid said:

I hate to break the news to you, but college football players were always getting paid.  Either under the table, fake jobs, no show jobs, clinics, etc.  They also were given half assed degrees with paid tutors so they wouldn't have flunked out.  

There's always been the have and have nots.  I'm actually glad the athletes are getting paid. The schools make billions off of them. The coaches make millions as well.  The kids deserve something, because the football team funds the entire athletic department. 

Because some people break the rules, we shouldn't have any rules. 

[The Kid]

1 hour ago, ionel said:

Be easier to post the few that make money don't you think? 

Oregon. Ohio State. Michigan. Penn State.  Alabama Georgia. Texas. Clemdon. Miami....etc. etc 

Edited October 3 by The Kid

[The Kid]

11 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

Because some people break the rules, we shouldn't have any rules. 

They have rules.  You just don't like them.

Edited October 3 by The Kid

[Fletcher]

14 minutes ago, The Kid said:

They have rules.  You just don't like them.

Of course we have rules and the PCSA will add to them.

I was summarizing your position, which is not acceptable.

[The Kid]

3 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Of course we have rules and the PCSA will add to them.

I was summarizing your position, which is not acceptable.

My position is not acceptable to whom? Some random dude on a fringe sport internet forum?  Gtf out of here with your bullshit.

[ScottishSteel]

14 hours ago, boconnell said:

Don't turn on the TV today if you want to hold that opinion.

College football viewership is down 11%; ESPN/Fox etc pulled strings and made decisions in conference rooms to rip up regional rivalries and traditional conferences to collect their favourites and then spend every chance they get telling 75% of the teams they don't matter and shouldn't even be given a chance to try.

The whole ecosystem matters; college sports isn't just 40 or 50 some football/basketball teams.  tOSU/Michigan football will always be packed and draw big viewership numbers but you can't point to that and say everything is fine when everything else is on fire