After Senate approval, what's next for the Protect College Sports Act?

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  Dan MurphyOct 5, 2026, 07:38 AM ET

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  Dan Murphy is a reporter on ESPN's investigative and enterprise team. Reach him at daniel.murphy@espn.com.

The list of concerns that could potentially derail the Protect College Sports Act is growing longer this week as House members begin to evaluate the bill aimed at reshaping the college sports industry.

The bill passed the U.S. Senate with an overwhelming 77-22 vote last Monday, but as written would not have the support needed to get to a full House vote, according to multiple sources on Capitol Hill. The members of Congress who are currently opposed come from both sides of the political aisle and have a varied list of issues, including the future employee status of college athletes, conference realignment rules and general concerns about a sprawling, overly prescriptive approach to fixing the NCAA's problems.

The most daunting challenge the bill faces might be the short window remaining to reach a finish line. The House is scheduled for only 20 more legislative days spread across five weeks between now and the end of the year. It reconvenes on Capitol Hill for two weeks after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Its last day in session in 2026 is scheduled for Dec. 17. While that could be extended if lawmakers are debating high-priority issues such as a government funding deal, it's unlikely they would add time solely for the PCSA, according to a House aide.

If the House cannot get to a vote on the PCSA before the end of the year, lawmakers would lose the progress they've made thus far and have to start their legislative process from the beginning when a new Congress is seated in January. And if Republicans lose control of the House in November's election, the likelihood of the current bill being revived is low. Sen. Ted Cruz, who co-authored the bill with Sen. Maria Cantwell, has previously called it the NCAA's "last, best chance" of getting the help it wants from Congress.

Cruz has told reporters on multiple occasions that he believes the House could return and pass the bill for President Donald Trump to sign before the midterms. Multiple sources confirmed to ESPN that House leaders have no intention of returning to Washington this month to vote on the college sports bill. One Capitol Hill source said Cruz was "writing fan fiction" given the current concerns with the bill. Another said Cruz's attempt to pressure the House to return "isn't helping his chances with some of our members."

The two most powerful members of the House -- Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise -- say they are optimistic that they can make the changes necessary to get a finished product to Trump by the end of the year despite facing an uphill battle.

"We can fix it," Scalise told the Washington Sun last week. "And we're going to."

President Trump has publicly supported the bill on multiple occasions. He remains eager to sign it, according to Cruz and high-ranking members of the House. Trump could pressure House leadership to keep the bill moving forward and help push some Republican members who have reservations to vote for it anyway.

To pass before the end of the year, the bill will have to make it through a rules committee voting process and then garner a simple majority (218 votes if all members are present) in a full House vote.

Some of the concerns that members of the House have expressed about the current legislation include:

Employment

In June, Scalise and others opposed the Protect College Sports Act because it didn't explicitly ban college athletes from being deemed employees of their schools.

The current bill does not take a stance for or against employment. Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Republican co-sponsor of the bill, told ESPN that neutrality was a crucial compromise in getting the PCSA through the Senate.

House Republicans are concerned that parts of the bill requiring schools to report the amount of time athletes spend on their sport and the money each sport makes in aggregate are a clever way to gather the kind of data that a court could use to declare athletes as employees in future lawsuits. A House aide told ESPN a number of members have raised concerns that the bill could strengthen future employment claims.

Cantwell, the lead Democrat on the bill, was adamant during a lengthy negotiation this summer that her party would not support a bill that closes the door on athletes becoming employees. In past debate on the topic, some House Republicans were unwilling to vote for a bill unless it banned employment, which could be the toughest place to compromise when it comes time for the House and Senate to negotiate on a final bill to deliver to the president.

Conference realignment

The current bill would cap the number of schools that can join a conference at 20, which would leave room for the Big Ten to add two more schools and the SEC to add four. The bill also would force any school that wants to move from one Power 4 conference to another to spend three years without any conference affiliation before joining their new league.

The presidents or chancellors at Florida State, Clemson, Miami and North Carolina sent a letter to House leadership last week asking to revise the bill to allow 22 teams per conference and to remove the three-year waiting period for switching leagues. Lawmakers from Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina have also expressed concerns about the conference limits. The provision was intended to protect conferences like the ACC from suffering the same fate as the Pac-12, which is no longer considered a power league after four of its best schools departed for the Big Ten in 2024.

Micromanagement

According to a House GOP aide, portions of the bill that prescribe how often schools should schedule games with their rivals, how long the season should last and other items in a "grab bag of random things" in the lengthy bill go beyond the role the federal government should play in a private industry.

Scalise shared a similar sentiment when he told the Washington Sun last week "it's really important that we allow the schools to govern themselves."

International athletes

Rep. Tim Walberg, who chairs the House Education Committee, is among a group of lawmakers who would like Congress to enact a limit on how many international players a team can carry on its roster. Walberg co-sponsored a bill that would prevent a team from building a roster with more than 20% foreign-born players.

"I've been clear that there are still outstanding issues that need to be addressed," Walberg said in a statement to ESPN last week. "I'll continue working with my colleagues and the White House to protect student-athletes and preserve college sports."

Black athlete representation

The Congressional Black Caucus remains staunchly opposed to the PCSA as it is written, according to a long statement the group published last week after the Senate vote. A spokesperson for the group told ESPN the bill's authors haven't been willing to engage in serious conversations with members of the caucus or with other groups that represent the interests of Black athletes while crafting the legislation.

The bill would create a pool of grant money that HBCUs could use to upgrade their broadcast and telecommunications capabilities to better promote their athletic programs. However, the money is not guaranteed and the ways in which it can be used are not well defined, which has raised concerns from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers.

The CBC carries more sway in the House than the Senate -- 58 of its 62 members are in the House. The group played a major role in defeating a different college sports bill called the SCORE Act in the House last year. A spokesperson for the group said the CBC would also like to see university leaders, especially from Southern states, take a stronger stance against racial gerrymandering before throwing its support behind any bill that helps the college sports industry.