Hoeven Makes Case With Senators Cruz, Cantwell For the Protect College Sports Act

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) today made the case for the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), bipartisan legislation to improve fairness and stability in college athletics. Hoeven outlined the importance of the legislation at a press conference led by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), with college sports leaders and athletes from across the country, including former North Dakota State University (NDSU) head football coach Craig Bohl and Adam Dugger, a current NDSU track and field athlete. Hoeven, a cosponsor of the legislation, is working with his colleagues to bring the bill up for a vote by the full Senate as soon as this week. The PCSA seeks to address issues created by the patchwork of state laws and court cases regulating college athletics, including a settlement reached in 2025 under House v. NCAA that allows schools to pay student athletes directly. This settlement has put schools with fewer financial resources at a competitive disadvantage and encourages gaming of the transfer portal. It also pressures schools to channel more funding into football and basketball, reducing resources available for students who participate in other sports programs. Accordingly, the legislation would: Better protect and benefit student athletes by: Preventing deceptive practices by agents or schools. Protecting students’ Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights. Ensuring pro athletes can’t compete in college sports. Helping preserve support for women’s and Olympic sports. Level the playing field in college sports across all schools. The bill: Limits what schools can pay athletes. Prevents player- or coach-poaching. Curbs excessive transfers. Stops Super League consolidation. Secure access for local broadcasters to ensure a free option for fans to watch games. “With the college football season underway, the problems facing student athletic programs are in clear focus. Across the country, small athletic programs are disappearing, student athletes are left vulnerable to exploitative contracts and college rosters are being hollowed out by a system that awards excessive transfers. That’s why we’re working to advance the Protect College Sports Act, which will establish a common-sense, bipartisan framework to protect competition, restore fairness and bring much-needed stability to college athletic programs,” said Hoeven. “It’s great to have Coach Bohl and NDSU track and field student athlete Adam Dugger here in Washington to help make the case for this legislation. We’re going to keep moving this bill forward, with the goal of securing a vote by the full Senate as soon as this week.” The PCSA was introduced by Cruz and Cantwell, who serve as the Senate Commerce Committee Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively. Additional bill details include: Improve Fairness for Student Athletes Protect NIL rights by ensuring students can enter into NIL agreements and retain agents without losing scholarships or institutional support. Stop fraudulent agents and deceptive contracts by establishing a registry of certified agents and allowing sanctions against agents that exploit student athletes. Create uniform, enforceable eligibility rules for college athletes, including: Setting a cap of 5 years of playing time starting from the time of enrollment or the academic year following a student’s 19th birthday, whichever comes first. Loss of eligibility for participation in professional sports and poor academic performance, among other issues. Create new funding incentives and revenue streams to preserve support for women’s and Olympic sports. Require Division I schools to cover out-of-pocket medical costs for sports-related injuries and require all athletic programs to follow health and safety standards. Restore Fair Competition for Schools Limit compensation for student athletes and create enforceable standards on recruitment, tampering and NIL disclosures. Prevent player- and coach-poaching by: Allowing sanctions against agents that facilitate player poaching or recruit tampering. Prohibiting football coaches from quitting mid-season to be hired by another program. Curbing excessive transfers. Student athletes are guaranteed one transfer as an undergraduate without losing eligibility with certain exceptions. Stop Super League consolidation by: Prohibiting conferences with more than $700 million in revenue from consolidating with or acquiring other conferences. Limiting conference expansion to 19 entities. Allow schools to voluntarily pool media rights across conference lines. The bill also requires at least one free local broadcast option for football and basketball games in the local market of each participating school to preserve fan access to games. -###-