S 4668
Passed a chamber
Requires colleges and athletic associations to let student athletes earn money from their name, image, and likeness, sets disclosure and agent rules, and shields the NCAA and schools from certain antitrust claims while the bill's rules are followed.
Official title: Protect College Sports Act of 2026
Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions
House
Received
05-OCT-2026
Senate
Introduced
02-JUN-2026
Referred
02-JUN-2026
Approved by committee
18-JUN-2026
Reported
24-JUN-2026
On the calendar
24-JUN-2026
Passed
28-SEP-2026
- Bars schools and athletic associations from restricting athletes' ability to earn money from their name, image, and likeness, or from cutting scholarships over it.
- Requires athletes to report name, image, and likeness deals over $600, and creates a public database of those deals and school payments for Division I programs.
- Sets a retention fund that lets schools exceed the revenue share cap by up to $22,500,000 per year for nine years, and makes continuation of that cap subject to a congressional approval process.
- Adds student athlete protections on medical coverage, transfers, and health standards, and amends the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to let college conferences jointly sell broadcast rights.
Covers an older version. The newest CRS summary describes the bill as of "Reported to Senate" (24-JUN-2026); the text has changed since (Engrossed in Senate, 28-SEP-2026).
CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.govSports and Recreation
■ 5 D■ 4 R
4 Republicans
congress.gov page
Engrossed in Senate (28-SEP-2026)
Reported to Senate (24-JUN-2026)
Introduced in Senate (02-JUN-2026)
Senate: Cloture on the motion to proceed to the measure invoked in..., 74-24, 15-SEP-2026
Senate: Motion to proceed to consideration of measure agreed to in..., 77-22, 17-SEP-2026
Senate: Cloture on the measure, as amended, invoked in Senate, 74-25, 24-SEP-2026
Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment, 77-22, 28-SEP-2026