Future of College Sports
Nick Saban Backs Bipartisan Bill as Congress Weighs College Sports Overhaul
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Hall of Fame coach Nick Saban testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on June 3, urging lawmakers to pass the Protect College Sports Act of 2026 — a bipartisan bill that would impose a $21.3 million salary cap on school payments to athletes, limit transfers to one free move per career, and ban coaches from leaving for new jobs midseason. AP News reported Saban framed the stakes bluntly: "If you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari going 150 miles an hour toward the Grand Canyon, somebody needs to tap the brakes."
The bill, co-authored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), comes after years of failed attempts to regulate college sports. It builds on a Trump executive order signed in April 2026 that gave the NCAA an August 1 deadline to establish new rules — or risk losing federal research grants.
The Bill That Could Reshape College Sports Forever
The 111-page Protect College Sports Act would set a hard cap of $21.3 million per school for direct payments to athletes in the 2026-27 season, according to Yahoo Sports. It would also create a fixed five-year eligibility window, ending the era of athletes spending six or seven years in college. NIL agents — who broker deals between athletes and brands — would be limited to a 5% fee on any deal.
Cruz called the bill the "last, best hope to save college sports." Cantwell pushed back on the influence of wealthy donors, saying success should be "determined by how universities build a team, and not because they have a billionaire in their back pocket." The so-called "Lane Kiffin Rule" would also stop coaches from ditching their teams mid-playoff to take new jobs.
Wild West NIL Era Drove Congress to Act
The push for federal rules comes after the 2025 House v. NCAA settlement blew up the old amateurism model. That deal created a $2.8 billion back-pay fund for former athletes and allowed schools to share roughly $21 million per year directly with players, according to Sports Business Journal. But the settlement included no antitrust protection, meaning schools could not legally enforce spending limits.
Saban pointed to Alabama's NIL collective, which grew from $2.7 million to $24 million during his tenure, as proof the system was "unsustainable." Supporters argue that without a cap, football and basketball spending will keep draining money from smaller "Olympic" sports like swimming and track — which are already being cut at schools across the country.
Congressional Black Caucus Blocks Path Forward
The bill faces a serious political hurdle. The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) announced unanimous opposition, saying it cannot back a bill that benefits institutions which stayed silent while "Black voting rights are being systematically dismantled." The CBC's objection helped kill a previous version of the bill — the SCORE Act — which was pulled from the House floor on May 20, according to AP News.
The civil rights argument carries real weight. Black athletes make up roughly 75% of players in football and basketball — the two sports that generate nearly all of college sports' revenue. The CBC is using that leverage to demand action on the Supreme Court's Callais ruling, which weakened the Voting Rights Act.
Power Conferences and Labor Critics Push Back Too
Opposition is not just coming from the CBC. The SEC and Big Ten — the two richest conferences in college sports — issued a joint statement on June 2 saying the bill fails to provide the "protections needed to make and enforce consistent rules," according to Sports Business Journal. Analysts say both conferences prefer to set their own rules rather than answer to Congress.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) hit the bill from a different angle. He argued the law protects the "huge salaries of all the adults" — coaches, administrators, and agents — while capping what the athletes themselves can earn. Critics call it unconstitutional wage suppression, with no collective bargaining giving athletes a seat at the table.
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