Hoeven: Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) Will Improve Fairness & Stability in College Athletics Across All Schools

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today held a press conference to outline the benefits of the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA), bipartisan legislation to improve fairness and stability in college athletics. The bill 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. Joined by North Dakota State University (NDSU) President Marshall Stewart, University of North Dakota (UND) President Andrew Armacost, NDSU Athletics Director Matt Larsen and UND Athletics Director Bill Chaves, Hoeven discussed how the legislation will: 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. “The current situation facing college sports is unsustainable and unfair. That’s why I’m supporting this legislation, which will restore the integrity of college sports, creating guardrails to protect student-athletes against exploitation and ensure all schools are competing on a level playing field,” said Hoeven. “Importantly, the bill limits what schools can pay student-athletes, while also protecting the students against fraud and ensuring they retain control over the use of their name, image and likeness. At the same time, the legislation creates enforceable standards to curb excessive transfers, keep professional athletes out of college sports, prevent poaching or recruit tampering and stop conference consolidation. Together, these provisions will restore fair competition in college sports to the benefit of schools, athletes and fans.” The PCSA was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Hoeven has been working to advance the bill, and after reviewing it with leaders from NDSU and UND, the senator has agreed to join as an official cosponsor. Hoeven will work with his colleagues to bring the bill up for a vote by the full Senate in September. 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. -###-