College Athletics Reform Act
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMrs. Trahan (for herself, Ms. McClellan, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Carter …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The College Athletics Reform Act establishes federal protections for college athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. It creates a comprehensive regulatory framework for college athletics by establishing a new congressional commission, amending antitrust laws for broadcasting rights, regulating sports agents, and expanding transparency requirements for college athletic programs.
Who Benefits and How
- College athletes gain the right to earn compensation from NIL agreements without restriction from their schools, conferences, or athletic associations. They cannot be punished for obtaining professional representation.
- International student-athletes receive a new visa pathway allowing them to participate in NIL activities without jeopardizing their immigration status.
- Large intercollegiate athletic associations (like the NCAA with 136+ member institutions) gain antitrust exemption to jointly sell broadcasting rights, potentially increasing their collective bargaining power and revenue.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Sports agents must cap their fees at 4% of NIL compensation, register with states, and include athlete-favorable termination provisions in contracts.
- Colleges and universities must comply with extensive new disclosure requirements, including reporting detailed athletic spending, revenues, scholarship data, and Title IX compliance by sport and by gender, starting in the 2026-2027 academic year.
- Intercollegiate athletic associations, conferences, and institutions face FTC enforcement and potential state attorney general lawsuits if they restrict athletes' NIL rights.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits schools, conferences, and athletic associations from restricting athletes' NIL rights or retaliating against athletes who earn NIL compensation
- Caps sports agent fees at 4% and requires written contracts with athlete termination rights
- Creates a 16-member Commission to Stabilize College Sports to study governance issues including collective bargaining and revenue sharing
- Grants antitrust exemption for large athletic associations to jointly sell broadcasting rights
- Expands Title IX and athletics disclosure requirements with detailed sport-by-sport breakdowns
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology