Tarheel senators on board with Protect College Sports Act of 2026

Earlier, the House was unable to get its version of a proposal along the same lines to the floor for a vote.

There was no immediate public comment from Republican second-term Sen. Thom Tillis.

First-term Republican Sen. Ted Budd wrote on social media, “North Carolina’s student-athletes deserve clear, consistent rules at all levels. The Senate’s passage of the Protect College Sports Act is a major step toward providing certainty and ensuring collegiate athletics provide opportunities, including for women and Olympic programs.”

In the proposal, key elements are regulating payments to college athletes for name, image and likeness; how often they can transfer; NCAA authority; and limited antitrust protections.

“This is a really big deal,” wrote second-term Republican President Donald Trump on social media late Monday evening. “It will not only save college sports, it will save the colleges themselves.”

Support also included the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. All 32 major collegiate athletic conferences, led by the Power 4 of the Big Ten, Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12, were in support among more than 380 individual colleges and universities.

The only Republicans in the nays were Florida’s Tim Scott and Kentucky’s Rand Paul; Alaska’s Dan Sullivan did not vote. Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, an independent caucusing with Democrats, joined 19 Democrats in the nays.

The AFL-CIO, the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP are opposed to the bill. Four Black Democrats in the chamber were united against the measure. Much of the opposition was tied to restrictions for athletes more than coaches and universities.

For example, the popular transfer portal would decrease activity because there would be one “free” move over five years without sitting out a year. For decades, transfers had to sit a year, and most leagues didn’t permit their members to accept athletes from conference brethren.

In another example, coaches are prohibited from leaving one school for another during an active season. The transfer rule change would give coaches more predictable roster management like they once experienced.

Tillis and Budd are in a state that lacked a major professional sports franchise until the Charlotte Hornets tipped off their NBA history in fall of 1988. The Carolina Panthers’ inaugural NFL season followed in 1995, and the Carolina Hurricanes’ first NHL season arrived in autumn 1997. For many of the state’s 11.2 million residents, it remains a collegiate hotbed of rivalries, chips on shoulders, and a clamoring to get to the next rung – whatever that may be at each campus in any sport.

Student fees, campus support and state government account for a little more than one-third of athletics spending at the public system institutions.

The collegiate part of the University of North Carolina System includes Appalachian State, East Carolina, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, N.C. A&T, N.C. Central, N.C. State, UNC Asheville, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC School of the Arts, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina and Winston-Salem State.

N.C. State and Carolina are ACC members as are private schools Duke and Wake Forest. The ACC is a Power 4 league with great sway on NCAA policies. In what is considered college football’s Group of 6, the collective next rung, are ECU and UNC Charlotte in the American Athletic Conference; and Appalachian State in the Sun Belt Conference.

There’s great contrast on media rights payouts for the state's schools, and for those institutions competing in their leagues. For example, the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences' most recent distributions had averages of greater than $70 million to their members while the ACC ($42.8 million) and Big 12 ($37.9 million) were a significant step behind.

According to New York Times analysis, top football programs alone spend about $50 million on their rosters this season. N.C. State and Carolina landed in the $20 million to $26 million range. East Carolina was $4.5 million; Charlotte and Appalachian were not included.

Carolina’s athletics expenses in fiscal year 2025 were $188 million, up 35.3% from $139 million a mere two years ago. It coincides with this year being eight-time Super Bowl champion coach Bill Belichick's second season in Chapel Hill. N.C. State’s $134.5 million in 2025 is up 13% from $119 million in two years.