A revised version of the Protect College Sports Act will require schools generating at least $80 million in annual athletic revenue to maintain current scholarship and roster levels for non-revenue sports.
This is a notable change from the original version of the bill, which tied schools’ requirement of maintaining current scholarship and roster numbers in non-revenue sports to whether or not they opted in to pooling media rights. If a school did not opt into pooling media rights, they would’ve had the ability to drop scholarship and roster levels in non-revenue sports like swimming & diving.
Under the new language, any athletic department generating at least $80 million in annual revenue would be required to maintain the scholarship and roster levels for non-revenue sports that it had in 2024-25, regardless of whether media rights are pooled.
Yahoo Sports‘ Ross Dellenger reported the amendment on Monday, ahead of a markup for the bill scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m (ET).
In non-Brendan Sorsby news: @YahooSports has obtained a copy of the revised Cruz-Cantwell bill ahead of Thursday’s markup, which features a notable change:
Schools earning at least $80M in revenue are required to maintain current scholarship/roster levels for non-rev sports. pic.twitter.com/irUaKqb8WH
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 16, 2026
According to CNBC, the 73 most valuable college athletics programs all generated over $80 million in revenue in 2024, led by Texas ($332 million), Texas A&M ($266 million) and Ohio State ($255 million).
Notably, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has sent a letter to Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell in support of the Protect College Sports Act following the revision.
🏅BIG: @USOPC_News just sent a letter to Chairman @SenTedCruz and Ranking Member @SenatorCantwell supporting the Protect College Sports Act.
“A stable collegiate sports system moving forward will strengthen and expand broad-based sport offerings through new revenue… pic.twitter.com/r5BYSQzty4
— Senate Commerce Republicans (@SenateCommerce) June 16, 2026
“Collegiate Olympic sports programs are critical to Team USA and translate directly to our competitive success,” the USOPC wrote in its letter. “At the Paris 2024 Games, 75 percent of U.S. Olympians and 53 percent of Paralympians had collegiate affiliations, representing 231 collegiate institutions and 71 conferences. 20 collegiate institutions celebrated Olympic and Paralympic medal winners at the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina.
“The revised version of the Protect College Sports Act ensures that higher-resourced NCAA Division I athletic departments – those with annual revenues exceeding $80 million — will maintain at least the same number of roster spots and scholarship opportunities for women’s and men’s Olympic sports as in the 2024-25 academic year. We welcome that the agreement provides reasonable flexibility, including transitional protections for mid-sized institutions, while preserving overall participation opportunities.
“We also appreciate that the legislation prevents reducing minimum requirements for varsity sports sponsorship, participation, and athletic comeptitions across Division I sports.”
Law professor Mit Winter believes that the USOPC, and/or the federal government, should be providing funding to NCAA schools “if colleges are tasked with being the training ground for US Olympic teams.”
Although the revision to the bill is a positive for non-revenue Olympic sports on its face, Texas law professor Scott Schneider warns to what what he believes may turn into a problem with it in the future. Schneider wrote on X that this could freeze athletic departments from adapting to changing financial realities by locking in current roster and scholarship structures as permanent requirements.
“If today’s expansion becomes tomorrow’s federally protected baseline, schools will rationally become more cautious about adding roster spots, increasing scholarships, or experimenting with new women’s/Olympic sports,” he wrote.
The Protect College Sports Act was introduced by Cruz and Cantwell in late May. The bill would establish national standards for athlete transfers, player eligibility rules, NIL enforcement and revenue sharing. It would also provide the NCAA with limited antitrust protection, shielding it from constant legal challenges over eligibility and transfer disputes.
As long as the roster spots equal the roster spots designated in the House settlement (that’s 30 for both women and men) get added in, this would be a win. Do not let the conferences dictate roster spots.