After years of gridlock, hearings, and headlines, Congress may finally be on the cusp of moving college sports legislation forward? But don’t hold your breath. Even with mounting pressure from lawsuits, court rulings, and the House v. NCAA settlement fundamentally reshaping the college sports landscape, the odds of a bipartisan breakthrough in today’s Congress remain—as ever—frustratingly slim.
Last week’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing might have looked like déjà vu to many: Republican lawmakers pushing for swift action, Democratic lawmakers raising red flags, and college sports hanging in the balance.
This time, the conversation centered on the SCORE Act—a Republican-backed bill that aims to codify parts of the House settlement. It would do three major things:
Prevent athletes from being classified as employees,
Give the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption, and
Preempt state-level NIL laws to bring “order” to what many lawmakers called a chaotic patchwork of regulation.
On paper, this bill could finally give the NCAA and its member institutions the legal protection to implement the settlement’s new framework—without fear of immediate legal reprisal. But that only works if it passes.
And that’s where the optimism starts to crumble.
Bipartisanship? Barely.
Republicans control the House by a narrow margin, and with a few Democratic vacancies, they might be able to push the bill through on their own—at least in the lower chamber. But the bigger challenge is the Senate, where passing most legislation still requires 60 votes.
Right now, there’s no formal Senate companion bill, though one is expected soon. But in the current environment—marked by sharp political division and presidential posturing—even a handful of Democrats supporting a GOP-led sports bill feels like a long shot.
The SCORE Act also reveals just how divided the two parties are on what college sports reform should even look like. Republicans argue that schools need protection from what they view as constant legal overreach and a dangerous drift toward employment rights for student-athletes. Democrats counter that many of these proposals are nothing more than a shield for wealthy institutions at the expense of athlete freedoms and long-term equity.
Add to this the newly renewed involvement of former President Donald Trump—who has floated executive orders, commissions, and more—and the entire debate threatens to become even more partisan, even more performative.
The Real Work Isn’t on Camera
It’s easy to watch these hearings and feel like nothing is ever going to get done. But those who follow Congress closely know that the public drama is only part of the story.
Behind the scenes, congressional aides and policy advisors are talking. Quiet negotiations are happening. The House settlement changed the calculus. The NCAA’s own admission that it will no longer enforce revenue-sharing rules, ceding that power to the Power 4, only turned up the urgency. Schools, conferences, and outside stakeholders know the courts aren’t done. More litigation is coming, and without some federal framework, the status quo will be dictated by whatever judge writes the next opinion.
The fact that we haven’t yet seen bipartisan consensus doesn’t mean some version of it isn’t possible—it just means that the political window for compromise is incredibly narrow.
What’s at Stake
Beyond the legal nuances, this legislation isn’t just about money or governance. It’s about the soul of college sports.
Will Congress act to ensure fair rules for everyone—or just to protect the top of the pyramid?
Will schools across all divisions and sports have a say in the future—or will power continue consolidating in the hands of a few football-heavy conferences?
Will athlete rights and opportunities expand—or will the system retreat to protect its old guard?
The truth is, both parties want to act. But they want different things, and they don’t trust each other to do it right. That’s where we are.
So…Will a Bill Pass?
It’s impossible to say. The House settlement may have forced Congress to finally reckon with the reality that college sports are changing—whether they like it or not. But the odds of a sweeping federal solution, especially one that addresses employment, antitrust, and NIL rights all at once, are still slim.
Still, the negotiations continue. Maybe a narrowly tailored bill gets through. Maybe litigation accelerates and Congress is forced to act. Or maybe, like so many things in college sports, change comes not through proactive leadership—but through reactive compromise.
One thing is clear: more legislation is coming. The only question is whether Washington can figure out how to make it work… before the courts do it for them.
