Senate greenlights Protect College Sports Act with 77-22 vote — SkimNews
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- Senate voted 77-22 to pass the Protect College Sports Act, sending the bill to a House where it must clear a narrow lame-duck window before a new Congress convenes in January.
- Bill raises the cap on direct athlete payments from roughly $21.5 million to $49 million per school—$5 million of which is reserved for non-revenue and Olympic sports—while granting the NCAA an antitrust exemption to enforce spending limits.
- Legislation caps Power 4 conference membership at 20 schools and requires any school switching Power 4 conferences to sit out three years without affiliation, with that waiting period set to expire at the end of 2031.
- Senate voted 52–47 against a Booker amendment that would have capped coach salaries at $5 million annually; Booker called the bill one that "sells out college athletes."
- Bill remains neutral on whether college athletes are employees—a stance Cruz called "a bridge too far" for Democrats and one critics cite as the biggest hurdle for House passage.
- An amendment to double the major-injury medical care fund from $100 million to $200 million failed by a single vote; approved amendments require athletic departments to disclose any foreign-government or sovereign-wealth-fund investment.
Why it matters: The bill's fate hinges on a five-week post-midterm House window; if it stalls, the entire process restarts in January. Schools capped at $21.5 million in direct athlete payments would see that roughly double to $49 million if enacted, while the Big Ten and SEC—already controlling 34 of 40 allowable Power 4 slots under the new cap—gain new tools to cement their financial edge.
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