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The Protect College Sports Act advanced out of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Thursday, potentially reshaping the landscape of college athletics by restoring the NCAA's authority to enforce rules that state courts have steadily eroded in recent years.
The legislation, if passed into law, would grant the NCAA antitrust protection, allowing college sports' biggest governing body to codify transfer and eligibility rules and cap athlete compensation.
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Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) co-sponsored the bill and said the current environment has no guardrails.
"The pendulum — as a fan, and as a former college athlete myself — was swung in the wrong direction for a long time," he said. "But right now, there's literally no boundaries, right?"
Schmitt said the stakes go beyond the sport itself.
"College football, college sports is a very uniquely American thing, and it brings us together culturally," he said. "It's what people talk about. I'll be honest, when I'm home in Missouri, people talk about a lot of things — they talk about gas prices, they also talk about what's going on with the crazy scene in college sports. I get asked about aliens, too. ... Again, to preserve this very uniquely American thing that brings us together as a country is worth solving."
Schmitt said the legislation is designed to have a lasting impact.
"If we do this right, it's probably something that will set the trajectory for the next 50 years," he said. "This isn't the kind of thing where you do something every year. We're dealing with it because it's at a crisis point and we want to address all the issues."
The debate over oversight plays out in real time for recruits like Eve Long, a rising senior at Olathe South and one of the top prospects in the 2027 women's basketball class.
Long committed to Notre Dame in May after receiving more than three dozen offers from top women's programs across the country. She said the recruiting process was intense but not chaotic.
"There's been times where it's been really crazy, but then there's also been times where it's been like really personal and slowed down," she said.
Her father, Ben Long, described it differently.
"I don't know if crazy would be the right word. I would just say constant," he said. "Just constant, it just kind of never stops to a degree."
Eve said seeing the current unrestrained transfer climate is the most alarming thing she sees in college sports.
Despite widespread attention on name, image and likeness payments in recruiting, Eve said NIL was not a dominant factor in her early conversations with programs.
"NIL entered the conversation more on my official visits," Eve said. "A school does need to offer what you're worth — and I mean, the school I pick definitely did that — and it's a process of negotiating."
The Longs hired an agent to handle the business side of her recruitment, but Eve said her decision came down to fit over finances.
"Every time I take a visit to Notre Dame, it just feels like a breath of fresh air, like I'm really able to like be myself there," she said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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