Federal college sports legislation gets support from SEC, Big Ten as Dillingham calls for clarity

The federal college sports bill known as the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) is headed for a vote in the United States Senate after heavyweight conferences SEC and Big Ten joined other leagues supporting the legislation.

After days of negotiations between conference and university decision makers and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, Maria Cantwell and Eric Schmitt, it was a late effort by President Donald Trump that put the final steps for support in motion.

Trump indicated to stakeholders he planned to publicly condemn SEC and Big Ten leaders for holding up the legislation, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

Final negotiations before the two heavyweight conferences agreed to support the bill included a provision to prevent revenue-sharing cap circumvention as the cap is expected to more than double from $21.3 million to $48.8 million per school across all sports.

However, attorneys for the plaintiffs — seniors whose college careers ended this spring after beginning in 2022-23 without the new “5 for 5” rule applied — granted eligibility in the Friday court order argued the NCAA used the initial decision that wouldn’t have allowed their eligibility as a way to move the PCSA forward.

“It appears that the decision to exclude the college athletes knowing that they would likely win a temporary restraining order was for political expediency to publicize the need for legislative action,” attorney Rob Shelquist said in a press release. “We are concerned that having decisively achieved a hard-won victory, the PCSA will now ignore the judge’s careful analysis and block the college athletes’ access to courts in the future.”

The PCSA includes antitrust language that could bar athletes from lawsuits regarding their eligibility with the “5 for 5” rule in place.

NCAA president Charlie Baker released a statement after the court order that notably targeted the need for PCSA passage.

Schmitt told Yahoo Sports a Senate vote could come between Thursday and Saturday ahead of a monthlong legislative recess. It will require at least 60 votes to pass before it would head to the House of Representatives, both of which are viewed as likely given the support of all leagues involved.

ASU coach Kenny Dillingham just wants rules regarding college sports legislation

Before the final negotiations landed in consensus support among the conferences, ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham clamored for clarity so he and his staff know how to operate.

“I just want to see rules. I don’t care what those are, I just want to know what we’re playing by. And if you’re not playing by rules, I want to know that there are no rules. That’s fine too,” Dillingham said Wednesday. “I really don’t care other than I know how I’m allowed to operate and what legally you’re allowed to do. So, if legally we’re allowed to sign anybody we want at any moment, great. … If you can’t, great. I don’t care.”

Dillingham noted whatever decision is arrived at, someone’s going to come out angry.

He used the example of coaches who have one strategy going before the rules make a different strategy the better one. Other examples could be players in the event their eligibility requires the help of courts, which would be prevented by the antitrust language.

ASU has contingency plans in place for whichever way things go, but Dillingham said he doesn’t allow it to take up too much of his mind before something is actually passed.

The ASU coach added that the Sun Devils haven’t utilized redshirts in a traditional way since he arrived ahead of the 2023 season because he believed something like “5 for 5” was inevitable, so there’s less of an adjustment to be made on that front.

ASU kicks off its fall camp on Wednesday.

There will be a special transfer portal window Aug. 3-10 that could change the dynamics of the 2026 roster, unless the NCAA can win its appeal against the Friday court order.

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