The Senate voted 74–24 on September 15 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 4668, the Protect College Sports Act of 2026. The vote cleared the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate on taking up the bill, but it was not final passage. The measure still faces additional Senate votes and, if approved there, consideration by the House.
Sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the proposal would create a national right for college athletes to earn name, image and likeness compensation. It would also codify the revenue-sharing cap established through the House v. NCAA settlement while allowing schools to fund a separate athlete-retention pool.
Other provisions would cap most agent fees at 5 percent, guarantee certain scholarship and medical protections, provide five years of athletic eligibility with exceptions, and generally allow one penalty-free transfer. The bill would let athletes transfer again without sitting out in specified circumstances, including graduate study, a discontinued sport, a departing head coach or sexual assault or harassment.
Retired Alabama football coach Nick Saban is among the sports figures backing the legislation. Critics, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and the NAACP, argue that the bill would protect an exploitative system and give college governing bodies excessive legal protection. The procedural vote advances that debate; it does not put any of the proposal’s rules into effect.
