Bipartisan college sports bill proposes salary cap, transfer limit - ESPN

A group of U.S. senators introduced new and wide-sweeping legislation Wednesday that aims to address many current issues in college sports, including an effort to restore some rule-making power to the NCAA and open the possibility for conferences to sell their lucrative television rights as one large group.

The Protect College Sports Act, written after months of negotiation between Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell, would provide the NCAA with an antitrust exemption to enforce several rules that have been challenged in court in recent years. Those rules would include:

Limiting athletes to transferring schools only one time without penalty

Limiting athlete eligibility to a maximum of five years

Prohibiting former professional athletes from playing in college

Prohibiting schools from poaching a coach from another school during their sport's season

The bill, which is also sponsored by Sens. Eric Schmitt ® and Chris Coons (D), would give the NCAA and the College Sports Commission legal cover to enforce a spending cap for how much each school can pay its athletes.

The NCAA and its schools have been lobbying Congress for a new federal law since a Supreme Court ruling in 2021 made clear that the multibillion-dollar industry is not exempt from antitrust laws, which prevent competitors from colluding to keep down costs. Since that time, the association has struggled to enforce any rules to regulate the skyrocketing new market for paying players.

«Timing is key in every political issue. We will find out whether this is the right time,» Cantwell told ESPN. «I think my colleagues are hungry for bipartisan legislation. I think America is hungry for bipartisan legislation.»

Congress has proposed several bills and hosted