74-24, and the filibuster stops mattering
The US Senate voted 74-24 on Tuesday to invoke cloture on the Protect College Sports Act. Cloture requires 60 votes. The bill cleared that line by 14, a wide margin for sports legislation and a signal that the coalition behind it holds on both sides of the aisle.
The vote does not pass the bill. It moves the measure toward a vote of the full Senate and takes a filibuster off the table when it gets there.
The co-sponsors are Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
“This bill brings order to college sports,” Cantwell said on the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “It helps women and Olympic sports, and it sets up a commission to look at the real future, which I think should include collective bargaining. Let’s bring some sanity. Recognize that athletes do deserve revenue sharing, and that this bill will put that into law for the first time.”
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What the bill would change
The central move is nationalizing name, image and likeness rules, which currently differ from state to state and leave schools in different jurisdictions operating under different limits.
Revenue sharing with athletes would be capped at 22%, which works out at $21.5 million under current figures. A separate retention pool of $27.5 million is designed to pull activity away from third-party NIL involvement.
Athletes would keep access to their scholarships for 10 years after their eligibility expires, and schools would be barred from pulling a scholarship over an injury or poor performance. One transfer with immediate eligibility would be written into law. Conferences would decide for themselves whether to pool media rights revenue. The NCAA’s five-year eligibility rule would be permanently codified.
The Lane Kiffin clause
One provision would stop football coaches from moving to a new school midseason. It has already acquired a nickname. Kiffin left Ole Miss ahead of last season’s College Football Playoff to take the LSU job, and the rule is being referred to in his name.
The bill now needs the full Senate, then the House of Representatives, where the vote is expected to be close. President Donald Trump has said he would sign it.
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