A vote pushed to the fall
The Protect College Sports Act will have to wait. The U.S. Senate adjourned for its summer recess early Saturday without taking up the bill, and lawmakers now point to next month for action. The chamber is scheduled to return on September 14.
Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Maria Cantwell of Washington have led the bipartisan effort, aimed at bringing order to a college sports landscape reshaped by name, image and likeness deals and revenue sharing with athletes. “College sports is something that needs to be fixed. They have a good solution,” said Senate majority leader John Thune. “We got it teed up for next month.” A lengthy confirmation hearing for incoming attorney general Todd Blanche was among the items that pushed the Senate to adjourn with business unfinished.
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What the bill would change
The legislation reaches well beyond player pay. It includes provisions to protect women’s and Olympic sports, and it addresses health care, the transfer portal and conference alignment, a broad attempt to settle several fights at once.
Cruz and Cantwell introduced the measure in May. It drew early resistance from the sport’s most powerful leagues, the Big Ten and the SEC, though both eventually signed off on a revised version. That buy-in carries weight, since those two conferences hold outsized influence over any reform of college athletics.
The road still ahead
Passage is far from settled. If the Senate approves the bill in September, it would move to the House of Representatives, where a close vote is expected. Should both chambers agree, the measure would head to President Donald Trump, who has said he would sign it into law.
For now, schools and athletes stay in limbo. Both sponsors struck an optimistic note after adjournment, with Cruz calling the bill “one of our first orders of business” when the Senate reconvenes and Cantwell saying she looks forward to its passage.
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