SCORE Act Introduced in U.S. House to Reform College Sports, Defend Olympic Sports
Just about a month after the historic House Settlement shook and changed the landscape of college sports at large, and softball specifically, members of the United States House of Representatives are planning to introduce a new bill next week that would alter the transfer portal, named the SCORE Act.
According to a recent statement from NCAA Senior Vice President of External Affairs, Tim Buckley, the NCAA is supportive of the SCORE Act alongside the House Representatives.
"Student-athletes have consistently asked for meaningful reform, and this legislation is a step toward delivering on that request. The NCAA has made long-overdue changes, mandating health and wellness benefits and ushering in a new system for Division I programs to provide up to 50 percent of athletic department revenue to student-athletes, but some of the most important changes can only come from Congress. This bill reflects many student-athletes' priorities, and the NCAA is committed to working with Congress to build a bipartisan path forward that ensures the long-term success of college sports and the ongoing opportunities they provide to young people."
NCAA’s statement on introduction of the SCORE Act: https://t.co/hfBTnU4b2W pic.twitter.com/d1TCATn8nu
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos_) July 10, 2025
The SCORE Act would have to pass the House floor but then also need seven Democratic votes in the Senate to join Senate Republications.
Thus far, the House has tried to pass multiple versions of legislation aimed at putting guardrails on the direction of the NCAA, but has been held up in the Senate by the lack of agreement and bipartisanship.
Under the SCORE Act set forth by the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Committee on Education and Workforce, and Committee on the Judiciary, college athletes would have a one-time transfer rule and roll back the current landscape and transfer portal where athletes can transfer multiple times to multiple institutions.
Perhaps this is a way to curb the influx of tampering that is happening across sports and across the NCAA. Tampering, is a practice where coaches are contacting athletes well before they enter the portal, all in an effort to get a leg up and recruit a player to their roster.
Additionally, the Act looks to put restrictions on agents representing collegiate athletes by directly defining who can be an agent as well as limiting agents to only taking five percent of their athletes' compensation. According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, at Big 12 Football Media Days, that number was closer to 10-20 percent.
In perhaps one of the more crucial concepts, the Act places parameters and requirements around agents, most notably limiting agent compensation to 5 percent of a total athlete deal.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) July 10, 2025
Coaches told @YahooSports this week from Big 12 media day that agents are often charging 10-20%.
The SCORE Act clearly outlines an anti-employment clause and further expands on the transparency needed for all NIL deals for athletes by requiring the data to be made publicly available and emphasizing that deals should be for "valid business purposes" but still go through the House Settlement's third party vetting system in Deloitte's NIL Go. The schools do have the right to limit NIL deals of their athletes if they violate codes of conduct or existing school agreements.
The Act also requires that schools maintain 16 varsity sports, which is already the minimum for FBS schools, but perhaps this is a way to preserve Olympic sports like softball, which were feared to be on the chopping block under the new system presented by the House Settlement's revenue sharing and distribution plan.
As part of the SCORE Act, institutions will also be required to provide athlete degree completion, certain levels of sexual violence prevention, financial literacy and tax education, career, mental health, and academic support, health insurance for up to three years post graduation, and protection from loss of scholarship due to injury or performance.
Lastly, schools will not be allowed to use student fees to come up with their revenue distribution.
Thus, under this Act, schools like Tennessee, West Virginia, Clemson, and South Carolina, who have all announced they are taking on "talent fees" to pay for the revenue share with their athletes under the House Settlement will have to find a new tactic to come up with the money if the SCORE Act passes.
Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.
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