Senate Commerce Committee Advances Bipartisan College Sports Bill as NIL Crisis Deepens
The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bipartisan bill Thursday to overhaul college athletics, advancing legislation that would establish a nationwide compensation framework for student-athletes and restrict transfer activity. The full Senate is expected to debate the measure in July, though its path forward remains uncertain amid a crowded legislative calendar.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bipartisan bill Thursday to overhaul college athletics, advancing legislation that would establish a nationwide compensation framework for student-athletes and restrict transfer activity. The full Senate is expected to debate the measure in July, though its path forward remains uncertain amid a crowded legislative calendar.
Cruz-Cantwell Bill Takes Shape
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington co-authored the legislation, which cleared committee on Thursday. Cruz framed the moment as an emergency response to structural collapse. "College sports is in crisis," he said. Cantwell said the bill would bring "more certainty and predictability to the system."
The legislation targets two flash points that have destabilized college rosters: name, image and likeness compensation and the transfer portal. On NIL, the bill would create a uniform national payout framework, addressing concern that major programs with large donor bases can outbid smaller schools for top recruits. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., warned that without a cap structure, schools like the University of Wyoming could lose access to players of the caliber of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who played there before entering the NFL.
On transfers, the bill would limit athletes to one penalty-free school change over a five-year period. Former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, testifying before the Senate earlier this month, called the current portal environment ungovernable. Cantwell said the measure would also bar predatory contracting by agents, universities, conferences, and third-party organizations.
Opposition Cuts Across Party Lines
The bill faces dissent from both sides. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., the only former Division I athlete in the Senate — he played tight end at Stanford — opposed the measure, citing decades of NCAA failures to protect athletes and expressing skepticism that new legislation would be any different. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., the only former Division I football head coach in the chamber, also condemned the bill, arguing Congress has no business setting athlete pay levels, even as he acknowledged college sports faces what he called a "five-alarm fire."
The Big Ten and SEC, the two most powerful conferences in college athletics, did not endorse the bill. Meanwhile, the NCAA — which has publicly called for congressional intervention and argued it cannot set NIL standards on its own — finds itself caught between those it governs and a skeptical Congress.
Senate Floor Fight Looms Large
The bill's fate in July is far from assured. The Senate faces competing legislative demands, including deliberation over Jay Clayton's nomination as director of national intelligence, the lapsed authorization of FISA Section 702, and a potential third budget reconciliation package tied to tax cuts and Iran war funding. The House has twice failed to advance its own college sports bills, pulling legislation from the floor in December and again this spring for lack of votes.
Broadcast rights add another pressure point. Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin both raised concern that fragmenting game rights across streaming platforms could push more content behind paywalls, leaving fans unable to find games. The bill's treatment of media rights could reshape distribution economics for college athletics well beyond the NIL debate.