To watch Chairman Cruz’s remarks on the Senate floor, click HERE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, with a large bipartisan vote of 77-22, the Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act (S.4668), authored by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). This bill is a major step toward ending the chaos and uncertainty plaguing college sports and providing student athletes, fans, schools, and coaches desperately needed relief. The bill now moves to the House of Representatives, and once passed by the House, to President Trump’s desk for his signature.
Upon Senate passage, Chairman Cruz said: “Today is a monumental day for college athletics. The United States Senate voted to protect the hundreds of thousands of student athletes currently competing in college sports, the millions who will follow in their footsteps, and every college sports fan who wants to preserve this great American tradition for generations to come. After years of discussions and months of intense deliberations, we achieved what many said was impossible and succeeded in getting the Protect College Sports Act through the Senate with a huge bipartisan vote. I am proud of our success, and I trust the House of Representatives will remain focused on bringing stability to college sports by delivering the Protect College Sports Act to President Trump’s desk without delay.”
Background
The Protect College Sports Act, introduced in May of this year, embraces the new era of NIL by codifying and protecting the rights of student athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness, while establishing the rules necessary to end the chaos plaguing college athletics.
In addition to Chairman Cruz and Ranking Member Cantwell, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).
On June 12th, Chairman Cruz, Ranking Member Cantwell, and Senator Coons hosted a roundtable with coaches, student athletes, and university presidents. The bill was then advanced in June by the Senate Commerce Committee with a strong vote of 19-9.
With the support of 32 collegiate athletic conferences and more than 380 colleges and universities across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the legislation sailed through the Senate over the course of September. Additional endorsements for the bill include: the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the players associations for the NFL and the NBA, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), FBS Athletics Directors Association, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Team USA Athletes’ Commission (Team USA AC), and National Governing Body Council (NGBC).
Student athletes, coaches, professors, and presidents from universities and colleges across the country have rallied behind the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act. They have written op-eds, participated in a wide variety of interviews, and even came to Washington, D.C., to urge Congress to pass this legislation.
On September 14th, Chairman Cruz hosted a press conference with more than 30 student athletes and coaches from across the country. President Trump and the Executive Office of the President also emphatically support the legislation.
A national survey found that 81% of Americans believe the Protect College Sports Act would do more to protect student athletes and preserve women’s and Olympic sports programs. Additionally, 77% of Americans say the bill maintains these opportunities by creating ways to distribute revenue more broadly across athletic programs, including for women’s sports.
The Protect College Sports Act has received support from more than three-fourths of the Senate at every procedural and passage vote. Senate votes on the bill include:
- September 15 – the Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed by a vote of 74-24.
- September 17 – the Senate adopted the motion to proceed by a vote of 77-22.
- September 22 – the Senate invoked cloture on the motion to proceed on the Cruz-Cantwell substitute by a vote of 70-21.
- September 24 – the Senate adopted the Cruz-Cantwell substitute by a vote of 77-23.
- September 24 – the Senate invoked cloture by a vote of 74-25.
- September 28 – the Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, as amended, by a vote of 77-22.
Ahead of the vote, Chairman Cruz hailed the legislation’s support in the Senate and anticipated its final passage. Read Chairman Cruz’s full floor remarks, as prepared for delivery, below:
“Mr./Madam President, today, the Senate has the opportunity to protect more than half a million collegiate student athletes and the millions more who will follow in their footsteps.
“The era of NIL is here, and it is not going away. Yet the system we have today is unsustainable, plain and simple.
“Students are transferring three or four times. Pros are trying to play ball against college kids. Conflicting court decisions have created a fragmented system – one that no one intended. And young men and women are losing opportunities to compete and receive an education.
“The question before this body is whether we will act or stand by while the institution Americans have known and loved for generations – college sports – is fundamentally changed.
“Will we protect the future of women’s, Olympic, and non-revenue sports, or allow college athletics to be consumed by uncontrollable bidding wars that force schools to cut programs simply because they don’t generate headlines or massive television contracts?
“The answer to this question should be simple: We must act, and we must act now.
“We must pass the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act.
“The Protect College Sports Act puts an end to the chaos plaguing college athletics.
“It protects NIL opportunities because student athletes deserve the opportunity to benefit from their talent without being taken advantage of by unscrupulous agents and backdoor deals.
“It creates clear, enforceable rules for eligibility and transfers.
“It protects our traditions and rivalries.
“It prevents the most powerful and wealthy conference from breaking away to form a super league.
“But most importantly, it protects our student athletes.
“It ensures the men’s volleyball player has a team to come back to next year.
“It ensures a first-generation student who excels in track and field has the opportunity to receive an education.
“It ensures that when American athletes compete on the Olympic stage, it is the United States, not China, not Russia, bringing home the gold.
“And it preserves the traditions passed down from one generation to the next – the second graders learning to cheer for the Aggies just as their parents and grandparents did before them, with the hope that when they get to college, the program they grew up loving will still be there.
“This bill is about protecting what makes college sports uniquely American.
“The Protect College Sports Act has the support of 32 conferences – all major conferences – as well as more than 380 schools and historically black colleges across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., the NFL, the NBA, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and more than five hundred thousand student athletes across the country.
“Don’t take my word for it. Take their word. They’re the ones on the front lines, directly impacted by the chaos unfolding.
“This isn’t perfect. No bill ever is. What this bill reflects is compromise, tough conversations, and Republicans and Democrats sitting across the table from one another, working through disagreements, and producing legislation that can actually get across the finish line.
“I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to my staff and Ranking Member Cantwell’s staff, who have devoted countless hours working on this bill. From Ranking Member Cantwell’s committee and personal office staff, I’d like to thank Lila Helms, Melissa Porter, Nicole Frazer, Phil Murphy, Ramesh Nagarajan, Erik Eykel, Kate Sprague, Ciara O’Donoghue, Josie Lang, Tricia Enright, Rob Blumenthal, Seth Kolloen, Elizabeth Cutter, Amit Ronen, Ansley Lacitis, and Lauren Bazel.
“I’d like to thank from my team: Brad Grantz, Joel Wellum, Blair Taylor, Robert Smith, Mike Spierto, Ryan Cannon, Bethany Holden, Rachel Cusnir, Christina Herrera, Dan Huguenin, and Nicole Christus from the Commerce Committee; and John Etue, Preston Howey, Omri Ceren, Macarena Martinez, and Chavonne Ludick from my personal office. This team is extraordinary and I can’t thank them enough for all their hard work day in and day out.
“I’d like to extend my deepest thanks to my staff director on the committee, Brad Grantz, and my policy director for consumer protection, Joel Wellum. Brad and Joel joined the committee when I became Ranking Member and began working on this issue right away. They have been dedicated for the past three years to college athletics. I’d also like to thank their wives, Katie and Stephanie, for enduring the many hours away from their families.
“I’ve used quite a few football analogies throughout this process, so I’m going to switch it up.
“Picture March madness. A Cinderella team that few thought would make it past the opening round is facing the number one seed. The clock is winding down. The underdog is down by two with one second left.
“The ball goes up.
“Three-pointer.
“The buzzer sounds.
‘The crowd erupts.
“That Cinderella story is what the Protect College Sports Act is trying to preserve.
“It is about protecting the underdog and ensuring that each team has the opportunity to develop, compete, and maybe even make it to the Final Four next season.
“But those stories only happen if those teams still exist.
“So, I urge my colleagues: Let’s show the American people that bipartisanship still exists. Let’s show them that Republicans and Democrats can still come together to solve a problem facing this country.
“Let’s protect the student athletes.
“Let’s protect the traditions.
“Let’s protect the future of college sports.
“Let’s pass the Protect College Sports Act.”
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