On Sept. 28, the U.S. Senate approved the “Protect College Sports Act,” a bill that introduces new rules surrounding NIL, the transfer portal and college sports as a whole. The bill still needs approval from the House of Representatives before it can be sent to the president. If it does not complete the legislative process before the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2027, lawmakers will have to reintroduce it.
The act follows what has now been years of controversy in the college sports sphere. NIL (name, image and likeness) money has been distributed to athletes as a means to bolster recruitment and compensate players, and has been a topic of conversation among coaches, players and fans since its introduction. There has been debate over how much money college athletes should be eligible to earn and how transfer students should be treated.
For example, PJ Haggerty is a college point guard who started his career at Texas Christian University. After opting for a redshirt season his freshman year, Haggerty transferred to the University of Tulsa before transferring again to the University of Memphis for more opportunity. He became a star there and reportedly received offers worth millions in NIL money to transfer once again, this time going to Kansas State. After one season there, he once again had the opportunity to transfer and now will play at Texas A&M University. Haggerty has attended five schools in five years, with reports of lucrative NIL offers accompanying his transfers. Certain coaches and fans have taken opposition to this kind of transfer behavior.
The proposed bill will put a limit on this type of activity, stating that a student-athlete can only transfer once before having to sit out a year after a second transfer. Many coaches believe that the current rules surrounding transfers make it difficult to build stable rosters or develop programs. This coincides with the NIL budgets of each school. Some schools have more NIL money to give, creating an unfair balance between the top-level schools and those looking to compete from a lower level.
The bill does not only put a limit on transferring. It also outlines that, to compensate for money transferring students would likely lose by constantly transferring, they will be offered benefits instead. These benefits include guarantees of scholarships, five years of post-eligibility sports medical coverage and degree-completion assistance, putting an emphasis on education.
The rate at which athletes are transferring also raises questions about those academics. How much of an education can a student-athlete truly gain if they are constantly switching schools? Most voices in college sports are looking for some sort of compromise between athletes getting the compensation they deserve and regulation of transfers and NIL money.
“We’re an educational institution and we want people to get degrees,” Creighton women’s basketball head coach Jim Flanery said. “When they send that first resume with five schools or six schools on their resume, they’re not getting the job that somebody else is getting who got through in four years at one or two institutions.”
The bill has until early January to be passed before a new Senate is sworn in. If time runs out before that, supporters of the bill will have to restart their efforts to make a change in the rapidly developing landscape of college sports. If the bill does not pass, fans of college sports will likely have to accept that the uncertainty of college athletics will continue to grow.
