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NEWS: United States Senate Passes Protect College Sports Act, Now Moves to House for Additional Vote
Late Monday night, the United States Senate voted on a bill known as the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA). The bill is designed to establish a national legal framework for college athletics. The PCSA ultimately passed through the Senate, receiving 77 "yea" votes and 22 "nay" votes.
The PCSA now moves to the House of Representatives for an additional vote. However, a vote on the bill will not happen until members of the House return from recess on November 9th (which is not to say that a vote will or will not happen on that exact date).
It is admittedly unclear whether the bill will receive enough votes to advance out of the House of Representatives as current sentiment remains mixed. Should the PCSA advance out of the House, the bill would land on the desk of President Donald Trump who must sign-off on the bill, thus putting it into law.
There are numerous aspects of the PCSA that could directly impact non-revenue sports and women's sports within the NCAA, as well as key details that would more broadly impact college athletics as a whole.
The bill would prohibit the NCAA from reducing the number of varsity sports required for an institution to be a member of Division One or the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). A related clause would also require certain large and mid-sized institutions to offer a minimum level of overall scholarships and roster spots for women's sports and non-revenue generating sports.
Maybe most interestingly, the Protect College Sports Act includes a provision which would allow schools to spend up to $22.5 million above the proposed revenue sharing cap to retain their athletes. And, more importantly, schools can spend an additional $5 million beyond that maximum as long as every additional dollar is matched with compensation to athletes in non-revenue sports.
For example: Let's suppose College X has spent $22.5 million on athlete retention. However, they want to spend more in that area, specifically up to $24.5 million. This means that College X would have to send an additional $2 million in compensation to athletes who compete in non-revenue sports.
It is, however, unclear as to how many universities will annually reach and exceed the $22.5 million athlete retention spending limit.
The bill also includes a "Transfer protections" clause which would allow undergraduate student-athletes to transfer once without losing eligibility. However, an additional transfer to yet another undergraduate institution would generally spark a one-year "sit out" period for the following academic calendar year.
The bill would also grant limited antitrust exemptions to the NCAA, conferences and schools to enforce certain covered rules pertaining to college athletics. It would also impose a 20-member cap for the Power Four Conferences (SEC, BIG 10, BIG 12, ACC), creating significant hurdles that would limit further expansion of the Power Four Conferences.
Additional aspects of the bill include legally codifying the NCAA's five-year eligibility model laid out earlier this year while further protecting student-athlete's right to receive compensation based on, "Name, Image & Likeness" (NIL).
