Bipartisan Protect College Sports Act Advances to Full Senate

Senate Commerce Committee passed Cantwell-led bill with bipartisan 19-9 vote

Bill bars major colleges from dropping women’s and Olympic sports teams; U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee endorsed it on Tuesday. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Protect College Sports Act of 2026 passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation with strong bipartisan support (19-9), sending the legislation to the full Senate for consideration. The landmark bill sets new rules and provides new tools to stabilize college sports, including codifying athletes’ rights to earn compensation for their NIL, enshrining scholarship, scholarship and healthcare protections in law, reining in predatory agents and preserving and protecting the future of women’s and Olympic sports.

“A lot of people in Washington—my Washington—and around the country think that bipartisanship is dead,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member. “But on behalf of 500,000 athletes who are seeing their future opportunities dimmed, we decided to work together to try to address this problem. This bill stands tall on behalf of athletes. This is landmark in the protections that it gives student athletes.”

The updated bill passed today includes additional protections for women’s and Olympic athletes and America’s Olympic medal pipeline. The bill bars major colleges from cutting the number of women’s and Olympic sports programs, roster spots, and scholarship opportunities they support. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee endorsed the bill on Tuesday. 

The Protect College Sports Act was introduced by Sen. Cantwell and committee chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas), along with U.S. Senators Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.).

“College sports are in crisis,” said Sen. Coons. “We can’t sit back and watch as they – and the incredible opportunities and communities they create – collapse. This bipartisan bill will protect student athletes and the programs they’re a part of – no matter how big or small the school or sport. I’m glad my colleagues on the Commerce Committee on both sides of the aisle saw the urgency of this legislation. I urge the full Senate to pass it soon so we can get back to cheering on our favorite teams and the amazing athletes that make them possible.”

Under the bill, all Division I schools have to maintain a minimum number of sports teams and roster spots. And any college athletic department with more than $80 million in revenue – 74 major universities, including Notre Dame plus the schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern Athletic Conference (SEC) – may not reduce the number of women’s and Olympic teams they field below 2024-25 levels for nine years.

As of today, 24 collegiate athletic conferences, 267 colleges and universities across 49 states and Washington, D.C., including historically black colleges, have publicly supported the legislation. Additional endorsements include the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Team USA Athletes’ Commission (Team USA AC), and National Governing Body Council (NGBC) the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Basketball Coaches Association, American Football Coaches Association and the Seattle Seahawks. 

To view the full list of supporters, click HERE.  

Last week, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Sen. Cantwell: An arms race in college sports could sideline 500,000 athletes.

Earlier this month, at a landmark hearing on the bill, the Commerce Committee heard powerful testimony on the worsening crisis facing college athletics, including the future of women’s and Olympic sports, athletes’ rights, and the financial sustainability of the entire collegiate sports system.

In March, Sen. Cantwell released a bipartisan discussion draft of the College Sports Competitive Act with Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) that would amend the Sports Broadcasting Act to allow colleges to pool their media rights in negotiations. 

In December of last year, she introduced the Helping Undergraduate Students Thrive with Long-Term Earnings (HUSTLE Act) with Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) so that college athletes earning NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) money can protect more of it for their post-playing lives. In October, Sen. Cantwell joined former college and professional athletes and Sens. Booker and Blumenthal in warning that the SCORE Act would roll-back hard fought NIL rights and health protections, leave athletes vulnerable to unscrupulous agents, short-change women’s and Olympic sports and shut the door on collective bargaining rights.

Last September, Sen. Cantwell, joined by co-sponsors Sens. Booker and Blumenthal, introduced the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act to codify athletes’ rights and protections in law, expand revenue for all schools, support women’s and Olympic sports, and bring much-needed stability to the college sports system. Sen. Cantwell also released a report showing how skyrocketing media rights payments have exacerbated a massive financial gap between traditional power conferences, especially the new Power 2—the SEC and Big Ten—and everyone else. 

Video of Sen. Cantwell’s opening remarks is HERE, and the complete transcript is HERE.

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