Taking a bye week? Senate vote on college sports bill delayed until September

The bill is a sweeping proposal to reshape the future of college athletics in the NIL era

By Ian Maile

Published: August 10, 2026 3:18pm

Passing the Protect College Sports Act will have to wait until Congress is back in session, after the Senate adjourned for five 5-week recess this past weekend.

After a busy session before the break, with the passing of a short-term funding bill and the confirmation of Attorney General Todd Blanche, the college sports legislation was put on ice. Senators remain optimistic about the bill’s chances of getting it across the goal line.

“College sports is something that needs to be fixed, they have a good solution,” said Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D, to the Associated Press. “We got it teed up for next month.”

The bill, if passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump, would aim to enshrine Name Image and Likeness (NIL) protections in law, limit athletes to one penalty-free transfer, a maximum of five years of eligibility, and prohibit schools from hiring a coach from another school in season.

Lawmakers tried to push for the bills' passage before the start of the college football season, as reported by Just The News last month.

When the bill was introduced back in May, college sports' two biggest conferences, the Big Ten and SEC, sent statements strongly opposing its passage. After some back-and-forth negotiations and provisions, the bill got over a big hurdle with the major conferences announcing their support for the PCSA in late July.

But the bill's passage became increasingly uncertain after key Republican Sens. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., came out against it. And as the vote got closer, both the Congressional Black Caucus and labor union AFL-CIO came out opposed to it too.

Co-authors of the legislation, Sens. Ted Cruz and Eric Schmitt, said, “The Protect College Sports Act continues to show great momentum," in a statement to Yahoo Sports on Saturday. "It's clear that this bill is the only way to save college sports and women's sports. With the strong support of President Trump, we look forward to him signing the bill on [ESPN] College GameDay in the fall."

With the college football season under three weeks away, the NCAA will begin another year without the federal regulations they have sought to stabilize NIL compensation, eligibility and transfers.