Senator Hoeven: Protect College Sports Act will improve fairness and stability in college athletics

U.S. Senator for North Dakota John Hoeven held a press conference on Tuesday, August 25, to outline his support for the Protect College Sports Act.

The proposed bill seeks to alleviate some of the issues caused by a patchwork of different state and federal laws regulating college sports and seeks to standardize financial limits for schools.

The bill seeks to protect the NIL rights of student athletes by ensuring students can enter into NIL agreements and retain agents without losing scholarships or institutional support. It also seeks to protect athletes from deceptive agents and contracts by establishing a registry of certified agents and allowing sanctions against those who exploit athletes.

The bill will create standard and enforceable eligibility rules for college athletes, such as setting a five year cap for playing time starting from the time of enrollment or the academic year following a student's 19th birthday, whichever comes first.

The bill will also remove eligibility for athletes who participate in professional sports or poor academic performance, among other things.

The bill will also create new funding incentives and revenue streams to preserve support for women's and Olympic sports and will require Division I schools to cover out-of-pocket medical costs for sports-related injuries.

"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 will also standardize compensation for athletes and restrict how schools can acquire athletes and coaching staff.

The bill will allow for sanctions against agents that facilitate player poaching or recruit tampering. It will also forbid football coaches from quitting mid-season to be hired by another program.

The bill also seeks to curb excessive student transfers, allowing just one transfer as an undergraduate without losing eligibility, with certain exceptions.

The bill will also limit conference expansion to 19 entities and will prohibit conferences with more than $700 million in revenue from consolidating with or acquiring other conferences.

I will also require 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.

The PCSA was introduced by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

Hoeven has agreed to join as an official cosponsor after reviewing it with leaders from NDSU and UND.

Hoeven and other members of Congress are working to bring the bill up for a vote by the full Senate in September.