WASHINGTON — A bill that top lawmakers and athletic leaders have described as the best chance to stabilize college sports cleared a key vote in the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support after weeks of input from schools, conferences and athletes.
The bipartisan Protect College Sports Act aims to regulate payments to players, limit them to one free transfer (not affecting their college eligibility) during their careers, and create a rule to restrict coaches from changing jobs during a season. It advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee on a 19-9 vote and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
Thursday’s vote came hours after the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten Conference, the two most powerful leagues in college sports, reiterated their position that “revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.” Several senators who voted against it cited concerns raised by the two conferences, which could spell trouble for its chances.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who supported the bill, said he would like to be able to bring it up for a vote next month, before the August recess. He said the legislation will “continue to get refined as time goes on.”
“It was a really strong vote coming out of the committee,” Thune said.