WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama introduced an amendment to the Protect College Sports Act of 2026 aimed at clarifying how certain name, image and likeness payments are counted under college athletics revenue-sharing limits.
The amendment, introduced Sept. 22, would specify that NIL payments made to athletes by entities associated with a college or university, including collectives, count toward the institution’s revenue-sharing cap. Britt said the proposal was intended to eliminate ambiguity over whether schools could use affiliated entities to make payments outside the cap.
The issue stems from the House v. NCAA settlement, which established a revenue-sharing framework allowing schools to directly compensate student-athletes. The initial cap was set at approximately $20.5 million for the 2025-26 academic year and is designed to increase over time. Britt’s office cited a $21.3 million annual figure in announcing the amendment.
Britt said the amendment was intended to ensure institutions operate under the same revenue-sharing rules and that the cap can be enforced.
“Every school should play by the same rules,” Britt said in announcing the proposal. She said the amendment would make clear that associated-entity deals are included when determining whether an institution has reached the cap.
The Senate Commerce Committee had already revised the legislation in August to adopt the House settlement’s definition of an “associated entity” and to provide that associated-entity deals count toward the revenue-sharing cap. Britt’s amendment sought to make that treatment explicit in the legislation.
Britt also secured a separate change addressing conference membership. That amendment reduced a proposed disaffiliation period for schools changing conferences from five years to three years and provided for the requirement to expire six years after enactment. Britt said the change would provide short-term stability while avoiding a permanent federal restriction on institutions seeking to change conferences.
Since the amendment was introduced, the full Senate has acted on the legislation. On Sept. 28, the Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act of 2026, as amended, by a 77-22 vote. The legislation now moves to the U.S. House for consideration.
