TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
The Protect College Sports Act appeared dead just a day ago, but went into its two-minute offense on Friday and rallied to stay alive, going into the last week before the U.S. Senate recess.
The Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences agreed Friday night to support the Senate bill aimed at regulating college sports after league commissioners Tony Petitti and Greg Sankey missed deadlines on Thursday and Friday mornings, putting the bill in a fourth-and-long situation.
Then Petitti and Sankey, after hours of talks from early to late Friday, released a joint statement for the significantly changed bill after the league’s presidents and chancellors voted for it. The 11th hour drive amounted to a 4th-and-20, 60-yard completion that reversed the bill’s field position and momentum, pushing the controversial legislation toward the end zone.
A joint statement from the Big Ten & SEC Presidents and Chancellors. pic.twitter.com/tA6LewueyA
— Big Ten Conference (@bigten) August 1, 2026
The bill moved after last-minute concessions concerning language related to third party Name, Image & Likeness deals and the “associated entities” (boosters) that often broker pay-for-play.
It is official: Big Ten presidents and chancellors voted to support the Protect College Sports Act, sources tell @YahooSports.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 1, 2026
SEC presidents and chancellors are meeting this evening. https://t.co/VWh31qz4j8
President Donald Trump, a strong supporter of the bill, also got involved.
“Trump engaged with stakeholders through intermediaries on Thursday evening, stating his intent to publicly condemn Big Ten and SEC leaders for opposing the bill, presumably through a social media account followed by millions,” Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports wrote.
Negotiations on Thursday night and throughout Friday, which included lawmakers and representatives of the Big Ten, the SEC and Notre Dame, delved into wording of the bill to guard against schools circumventing the athlete revenue share cap.
“The language, spearheaded by New York Yankees president and Trump confidant Randy Levine, requires school-affiliated sponsors and apparel brands to enter into an attestation (document certification) process to approve that NIL agreements are kosher, not directed by the school, and that the compensation doesn’t originate from the school,” Dellenger wrote. “Similar language is in the bill already related to NIL deals from multimedia rights partners, like Learfield and Playfly.”
The athletic pay cap in the amended bill is up from $21.3 million to $48.8 million and includes all affiliated NIL deals.
Senator Eric Schmitt (Republican-Missouri) was heavily involved in negotiations Friday and expects a Senate vote as early as Thursday or as late as Saturday, which would be a day after the Senate’s last day before the summer recess. But this bill already missed deadlines this past Thursday and Friday.
“We have to stay to get it done, if that means Friday or Saturday,” Schmitt told Dellenger.
Mr. Saban Goes To Washington … and Takes Over.https://t.co/Bc38t9w7JD
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) June 4, 2026
The bill needs 60 votes to pass before moving on to the House of Representatives. Schmitt expects three touchdowns more than 60, as far as votes. He predicted 80 and spoke with Trump, Dellenger reported.
“He’s happy,” Schmitt said of the president, who held a summit on college sports’ problems back in March that got the football rolling.
And Schmitt is not alone with his prediction of 80 votes.
“Many predict that the bipartisan legislation has enough support to easily surpass the 60-vote threshold necessary in the Senate with the leagues throwing their weight behind the measure,” Dellenger wrote. “While the bill would still need to pass the House of Representatives, Senate ratification would stand as one of the most historic moves in college sports history and a victorious moment for the NCAA’s seven-year lobbying effort for a congressional bill.”
Cody Campbell, the CEO of an oil company in Fort Worth, Texas, and Texas Tech board of regents member, helped shape the original, bipartisan bill with U.S. Senators Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (Democrat-Washington). He was pleased late Friday.
“This is a major breakthrough that moves us closer to a Senate vote and a better future,” he told the Associated Press.
“The key components of the bill would grant the NCAA and conferences a limited antitrust exemption to re-implement the one-time transfer exception, standardize a five-year eligibility policy, ban professional athletes from returning to college, establish an agent registry and maximum fee of five percent and create a more strict athlete revenue-share cap,” Dellenger wrote.
Among the key revisions obtained by Yahoo Sports are a $22.5 million retention pool for schools’ efforts to keep athletes in additon to the original $21.3 million cap, plus $5 million to be spent only on women and non-revenue sports. That’s a $48.8 million total cap.
It’s official. The @thebigten and the @SEC have endorsed the Protect College Sports Act. Glad to have their support.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) August 1, 2026
Now it’s time to get the bill through Congress and on to President Trump’s desk. Let’s save college sports.
“In general, the bill is the opposite of the narrow version that college leaders wanted,” Dellenger wrote. “It is incredibly specific, touching on several concepts, including conference expansion and coaching movement. The legislation caps power conference membership at 19 schools and requires those programs moving from one power league to another to operate as an independent for five years.”
The bill addressed in detail the dissension, particularly from Petitti and Sankey over television money.
“The senators and their staff members believe they’ve made ‘major concessions’ to appease the SEC and Big Ten,” a Senate staff member said.
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