What is the Protect College Sports Act? What would the bill do? - ESPN

The U.S. Senate voted Monday night to pass a bill that would significantly shape the future of college sports.

The Protect College Sports Act addresses myriad topics that are contributing to an unstable and often messy period for the college sports industry as it transitions to a more professional model for its biggest schools and most popular sports. The bill is the result of more than a half-decade of steady lobbying from the NCAA, conferences, their schools and other advocacy groups. It is the first bill on this topic to successfully pass either chamber of Congress and will move on to debate in the House of Representatives, where it could change.

In the past few weeks, lawmakers and others have made a major push to try to draw attention to the bill. Supporters have made bold claims that the treasured American institution of college sports will be irreparably harmed if Congress doesn't act. Opponents say the bill is an attempt to restore authority to a set of power brokers who have a long history of exploiting athletes. Both sides have dabbled in bad sports analogies, hyperbolic warnings and misleading statements.

As the bill moves on to its next step, let's sort the truths from the myths in some of the public statements on the issue and add context to how the college sports system currently works and what the Protect College Sports Act would actually do to change it.

«This is about reining in the bad practices that are happening in college sports today, the runaway costs… [and] the runaway arms race in sports spending.» — Sen. Maria Cantwell (D), co-author of the PCSA

The PCSA increases the amount of money schools can spend on direct payments to their players by $27.5 million, more than doubling the current