Spokane congressman introduces Restore College Sports Act

Baumgartner’s bill would replace NCAA, among other reforms

Mar 19, 2025; Wichita, KS, USA; A Wilson official NCAA Evo NXT basketball with the March Madness logo approaches the rim and the net at Intrust Bank Arena. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

A congressman whose district includes Gonzaga University has introduced a bill called the Restore College Sports Act that would replace the NCAA with the American College Sports Association, among other reforms.

Michael Baumgartner, a Republican who represents eastern Washington, introduced H.R. 2663 on Tuesday, a day after Florida defeated Houston to win the national championship. It was just the second time that all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four.

He said in a statement that his bill would “rein in the chaos unleashed by House v. NCAA and restore competitive balance, fairness, and sustainability to college athletics.”

“College sports used to be about student athletes, school spirit, and fair competition. Now it’s turning into an unregulated free-agent market dominated by cash-rich super-conferences,” said Baumgartner, who was raised on the Palouse and now lives in Spokane. “The Restore College Sports Act puts students first, protects small and mid-sized programs, and ensures the magic of college sports isn’t lost to corporate greed.”

Nov 14, 2024; Washington, DC, USA; Michael Baumgartner at the U.S. Capitol before an orientation program on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. | Jack Gruber-USA TODAY

Gonzaga, which reached the NCAA Tournament for the 26th straight time, lost to Houston in the second round, ending its string of nine straight Sweet 16s.

Baumgartner said this year’s March Madness “underscored the crisis: no upsets, no Cinderellas _ just a predictable Final Four dominated by No. 1 seeds and big-brand powerhouses. Behind the scenes, top athletes are being lured away by massive name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, leaving smaller programs with little hope to compete.”

Even amid the upheaval caused by NIL and the transfer portal, the bill will likely receive stiff opposition from the power conferences, some of which now stretch from coast to coast, and coaches.

The legislation calls for schools to play in regional conferences in the same time zone to cut down on excessive travel and caps a coach’s maximum salary at 10 times the cost of attending  that school “to halt the runaway spending arms race.”

It would create a national commission to establish rules for athlete compensation and program governance, with student-athletes having representation, and implement a national NIL revenue-sharing system that pools and redistributes funds equally to all student-athletes, “regardless of fame, position, or sport.”

The Pac-12 was decimated by defections to the Big Ten _ including Washington and Oregon _ the ACC and Big 12, and now includes just Washington State and Oregon State. A reconfigured Pac-12 is due to launch in July 2026 and will include Gonzaga in basketball. It will include schools in two time zones.

Baumgartner said that because most public universities are supported by the taxpayers, they “need the same kind of fair competition rules that Congress has supported for professional sports leagues through antitrust exemptions and revenue-sharing models.

“This is about saving Olympic sports, protecting academic integrity, and restoring sanity to an industry that’s completely lost control,” Baumgartner said. “Congress has a choice: step in and restore order—or let small schools fold, non-revenue sports vanish, and college sports become a monopoly for the few.”

In House vs. NCAA, a federal judge granted preliminary approval of the settlement involving the NCAA and the nation’s five largest conferences. The plan remains on track to take effect July 1 and clear the way for every school to share up to $20.5 million each with its athletes annually.

This settlement resolves three major antitrust lawsuits filed against the NCAA, including one by Grant House, a former swimmer at Arizona State.