NCAA's Push for Protect College Sports Act Complicated by Midterm Elections

The efforts put forward by the NCAA and its various allies to pass a controversial bill to regulate college football and other sports just ran into a giant obstacle after watching the results of the 2026 midterm elections roll in.

Branded as legislation that would bring stability and order to college sports in the wild west era of NIL money and transfer portal movement, the proposed Protect College Sports Act could be dead in the water amid a major power shift in Congress.

Until now, it appeared the bill had a credible path to being passed and signed by President Trump, but now as Democrats are poised to take control of both the House and Senate in the new year, that likelihood just sank to a near impossibility.

The Protect College Sports Act passed the Senate with a 77-22 bipartisan vote, but still needs to pass the House before being signed into law.

Why is the bill likely doomed now?

NCAA's Push for Protect College Sports Act Complicated by Midterm Elections — USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Democrats won at the ballot box on Nov. 3, but they won’t actually hold their new voting majorities until Jan. 3, when everyone gets sworn in. That gives the Republicans just two months to find the votes to pass the bill into law.

That means House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, will need every member of his party in the House to vote in favor of the bill. But that could prove unlikely as some factions in the GOP have expressed concerns about what’s in it.

Combine that with a Democratic side that has itself raised issues with the proposal, and that party not wanting to hand the President a legislative win, and suddenly the odds of the bill going through don’t look so great.

Moreover, Rep. Johnson has already stated that he will not continue as the Republican leader once his party becomes the minority in the House. That pretty much cancels any remaining motivation he might have to give the bill his full support.

Both parties have criticisms of the bill

Some House Republicans signed a letter to House leadership that expressed concerns about the bill after it passed the Senate.

In particular, they took issue with the section that caps conference membership to 20 schools and forces schools that leave one conference to spend three years as an independent before joining another league.

Democratic critics say the proposal doesn’t provide enough labor protections for athletes and requires far greater antitrust protections.

What happens without a new bill?

Nothing, really. College football and other sports will go on as before. Players will still get their NIL money, and can transfer every year with no hindrance.

Lawsuits will likely continue over player eligibility, but athletes now basically have five years to play under current NCAA rules.

The bill proposes to protect schools by giving them a limited antitrust exemption to shield them from those lawsuits and limit player transfers to one time without penalty.

It would also create more uniform rules about paying players for their names and images instead of having the different state laws currently governing the practice on the books.

So, is that it?

Technically, there is still a chance it could pass in the two months the Republicans still have control over both houses of Congress.

But in practical terms, the evidence suggests not.

Too many factions want too many different things out of the bill, and none of them have much incentive to work with each other, and plenty of incentive to work on other things.

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