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Senate Advances College Sports NIL Bill by 74–24 Vote

By Drooid · Sep 16, 2026, 2:21 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Senate Advances NIL Bill

The U.S. Senate advanced the Protect College Sports Act by a 74-24 vote.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) co-sponsored the bill.
The act establishes federal NIL rules, a five-year eligibility window, and caps school NIL spending at $49 million.
Opposition includes the NAACP, AFL-CIO, Congressional Black Caucus and Senators Chris Murphy and Cory Booker.
Support comes from President Donald Trump and the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.

Summary

Cruz Interview Controversy

ESPN gave Senator Ted Cruz a ten-minute interview on College GameDay without offering opposing airtime.
NAACP demanded equal time and urged ESPN to host NCAA president Derrick Johnson in Mississippi.
ESPN scheduled Johnson for SportsCenter at 6 p.m. ET, reaching 400,000 viewers versus GameDay’s 3 million.
The Austin crowd booed Cruz and chanted “Ted, you suck!” during the segment.
Disney’s lobbying unit reportedly pushes ESPN’s coverage to favor the bill’s passage.

History

Historical Context

In August 2014 the Supreme Court’s O’Bannon decision found the NCAA’s ban on athlete compensation anticompetitive, ordering schools to allow full cost-of-attendance scholarships and up to $5,000 trusts per player. Subsequent Alston rulings in 2021 reinforced non-cash benefits. Building on that precedent, Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell introduced the Protect College Sports Act to codify federal NIL rules.

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Senate Advances NIL Bill

The U.S. Senate advanced the Protect College Sports Act by a 74-24 vote.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) co-sponsored the bill.
The act establishes federal NIL rules, a five-year eligibility window, and caps school NIL spending at $49 million.
Opposition includes the NAACP, AFL-CIO, Congressional Black Caucus and Senators Chris Murphy and Cory Booker.
Support comes from President Donald Trump and the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.

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