Big news is brewing in college sports. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big Ten are quietly working on backup plans while the Protect College Sports Act, a rare bipartisan bill, inches through the Senate.
This legislation aims to bring some badly needed order—and antitrust protection—to the NCAA and its schools. But the path to becoming law is anything but smooth, with committee hearings, the looming August recess, and midterm elections all crowding the calendar.
Even so, the SEC and Big Ten aren’t just watching from the sidelines. They’re busy preparing their own moves to keep up with the shifting college sports landscape.
The Protect College Sports Act: A New Dawn?
The Protect College Sports Act clocks in at 111 pages. It tries to lock in the House v. NCAA settlement and lay down federal rules for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals.
It suggests a five-year eligibility rule, sets a revenue-sharing minimum, and creates a narrow antitrust safe harbor. There’s also a proposed tweak to the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which would let schools share media rights across conference lines but block the SEC and Big Ten from forming a Super League.
Key Provisions of the Bill
- Federal NIL Standards: Would create a national rulebook for NIL deals.
- Five-Year Eligibility Rule: Limits college athletes to five competitive seasons.
- Revenue-Share Floor: Sets a baseline for sharing revenue with players.
- Antitrust Safe Harbor: Offers some legal breathing room for NCAA rules enforcement.
The ACC and Big 12 seem to like the bill, but the SEC and Big Ten are holding off. They want to dig into the details before making any promises.
The amendment to the Sports Broadcasting Act is especially controversial, since it puts the brakes on the SEC and Big Ten potentially merging with other conferences.
SEC and Big Ten’s Contingency Plans
With the legislative wheels turning slowly, the SEC and Big Ten are working on their own backup strategies. NIL enforcement is a big headache, so the College Sports Commission (CSC) was created as part of the House v. NCAA settlement.
Still, the SEC seems ready to take matters into its own hands. They might create a conference-level group to review, approve, or deny NIL deals—and hand out penalties if needed.
Addressing NIL Deal Challenges
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks says the pressure is on, especially with the football transfer portal opening in January. He points out that a lot of schools have promised NIL deals that don’t follow the rules, and everyone’s anxious to get these sorted out.
Bryan Seeley, the CSC’s chief executive, admits many NIL deals probably won’t get the green light. Brooks floated the idea of an SEC “luxury tax” or cap-relief system. That would let them push revenue-sharing past the $21.3 million cap set for 2026-27.
Without some kind of fix, the CSC could get swamped with NIL deal submissions.
Federal Intervention: The Ultimate Solution?
Even with all these backup plans, SEC and Big Ten leaders know federal action is likely the only real fix for their legal mess. Oklahoma athletic director Roger Denny, who knows his way around corporate tax law and sports deals, says antitrust headaches can only be solved by new laws or collective bargaining.
The Protect College Sports Act is a decent start, even if it borrows from the old SCORE Act.
Stabilizing Transfers and Eligibility
The bill tries to rein in the wild world of transfers and eligibility, which has sparked plenty of lawsuits. There’s a cap: five seasons of competition, and just one transfer allowed per career.
If a player transfers twice, they lose a year of eligibility. That’s supposed to slow things down and keep college sports a little more predictable.
The bill also lays down a federal NIL floor, preempting the 39 different state laws schools have been juggling these past few years. Athletes must report any NIL deal worth over $600 within 30 days.
The NCAA would have to create a public, searchable database of anonymized deal data. Ideally, this would help tamp down on agent-driven bidding wars and runaway payments.
Operational Freedoms and Restrictions
There’s a trade-off here. While restrictions on athletes might calm the chaos, the bill also slaps some tight rules on how schools operate, and that’s making power-conference leaders a bit uneasy.
Interestingly, the bill doesn’t cap coaches’ salaries, even though that was floated by President Trump’s college sports committee. But it does include the so-called “Lane Kiffin Rule.”
This rule bans FBS coaches and coordinators from jumping to another job mid-season. If they break it, they’re suspended for the next season.
Preserving Olympic Sports
The bill makes a point of protecting Olympic sports. It does this by letting a new entity pool media rights, but only if 75% of FBS schools sign on.
This effectively leaves out the Big Ten and SEC. Senator Maria Cantwell, one of the sponsors, says it’s crucial to maintain scholarships and roster spots for women in Olympic sports.
The threat of a Super League still hangs in the air. The bill says any conference with more than $1 billion in revenue can’t merge with or buy another conference if it would push the pooled media rights group below that 75% threshold.
That’s a direct shot at the SEC and Big Ten, who haven’t shown much interest in joining up anyway.
The Path Forward
The SEC and Big Ten are both looking at new governance models to stay in line with the bill’s requirements—and avoid legal headaches. The clock’s ticking, though. This bill needs 60 Senate votes, and not everyone’s on board.
Senator Chris Murphy, who supports collective bargaining for college athletes, has been openly critical. He argues the bill keeps athletes from earning what they deserve, while coaches and executives keep their hefty paychecks.
With 138 schools involved, getting everyone in college sports to agree is, frankly, a nightmare. Greg Sankey from the SEC put it bluntly: do you want to be governed, or not?
The SEC seems set on pushing ahead. They’re zeroed in on making the House settlement work and figuring out how to deal with the CSC.
Brooks hinted that the next moves could come as soon as January. It’s hard to say exactly how it’ll all play out, but the pressure’s definitely on.
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