Just as the most vocal skeptics of the SCORE Act within college sports decided to pledge their support for the bill, another is being introduced by one of the most ardent critics of the potential legislation that has been making its way through the House of Representatives.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), along with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), introduced the Student Athlete Fairness Enforcement Act on Monday.
The SAFE Act includes amending the Sports Broadcasting Act to allow schools and conferences to pool media rights, an idea touted by some as a way to fund the rising costs facing athletic departments, though the potential solution has been met with skepticism by many in college sports.
The bill also calls for the creation of a new committee within the NCAA to “help maximize revenue for all schools and conferences” that would not be controlled by the wealthiest leagues. Currently, all conferences negotiate their own media rights deals.
Cantwell and other critics of the SCORE Act, a bipartisan bill which made it through committee in the House in July but has not yet gotten to the floor for debate or a vote, have said it allows the Big Ten and SEC to accrue too much power and wealth.
“It’s a new path forward through the NIL landscape that is right now just looking like an escalation of the richest, biggest schools being able to pay the most amount of money for the top athletes,” Cantwell said.
The SCORE Act would codify and bolster a new revenue-sharing system that was agreed upon by the NCAA and power conferences as part of a $2.8 billion settlement of three antitrust lawsuits this past summer. For the first time, schools are now permitted to directly pay athletes, with a cap of about $20.5 million this year.
There had been some concerns within college sports about whether the SCORE Act combined with the NCAA’s new governance model — which gives more voting power than ever to the Power 4 conferences — could lead to smaller schools being pushed out of Division I.
But revisions to the language in the bill were made to address those concerns last week, and earlier Monday 10 mid-major conferences sent a letter to Congress pledging their support for SCORE.
Ten Division I conferences that had voiced concerns about the SCORE Act related to NCAA governance have sent a letter to Congress supporting the bill.
Tweaks were made to the language in the bill to address their concerns last week.
Notable development. pic.twitter.com/qxOrZAUiBf
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) September 29, 2025
“We look forward to its swift passage in the House and carrying the momentum and bipartisan support for modernizing and stabilizing this uniquely American tradition of college sports to the Senate,” the letter said.
With those conferences fully on board, all 32 Division I leagues seem unified behind the bill.
The SCORE Act provides some antitrust protections to the NCAA and conferences that would allow them to govern college sports without the threat of constant litigation. It also prevents college athletes from being deemed employees, creates a national standard for name, image and likeness compensation rules and guarantees some long-term health care and other benefits to athletes.
The NCAA and college sports leaders have been lobbying Congress for years for a federal law to help them stave off legal challenges and regain control of governance and rule-making.
Cantwell told The Athletic she wanted to introduce the SAFE Act before a possible government shutdown later this week as Democrats and Republicans tussle over a spending bill. Cantwell’s SAFE Act echoes some of the elements of the SCORE Act but does not address employment status.
“Those closest to college sports — including student-athletes and leaders of America’s colleges and universities at all levels — have consistently called on Congress to take action to address the actual threats facing collegiate athletics,” said Tim Buckley, NCAA senior vice president for external affairs. “This includes protecting student-athletes from being forced to become employees, and ensuring academic standards and other commonsense rules can be applied consistently. There has never been more momentum in Congress to address these challenges and the NCAA will continue to work with all lawmakers to maximize opportunities for America’s 500,000-plus student-athletes.”
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— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) September 29, 2025
The most notable difference is amending the Sports Broadcasting Act, a move supporters believe will pave the way for more than 130 major college football schools to substantially increase their media rights revenue.
Billionaire oilman and Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell has championed the idea as well. His Saving College Sports television ads ran frequently on Saturdays during the first few weeks of this college football season.
Sponsors of the SCORE Act have said attaching changes to the Sports Broadcasting Act to the bill would halt its progress. Also, while Cantwell and Campbell have touted projections of a massive windfall of additional media rights revenue, many others are skeptical that would actually be the case.
In particular, the Big Ten and SEC, which own the most valuable media rights, have shown no interest in the idea. And even if the SBA is amended, conferences would not be forced to pool their rights under the SAFE Act.
Campbell’s plan also calls for the government to create an entity to replace the NCAA and oversee the pooled media rights.
The SAFE Act keeps the NCAA involved, though the association would take on a new role. The NCAA owns the media rights for its championship events, including March Madness, but has no involvement with the College Football Playoff or in selling the rights of regular-season events in college sports.
Even if the SCORE Act does pass a House vote, it does not seem likely to gain the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.
Cantwell said the SAFE Act could be part of negotiation if the SCORE Act does get to the Senate.
“I think these guys thought they could just take a concept and rush it through,” Cantwell said. “And we think we’ve been more thoughtful as to the big problem and how to solve it.”
(Photo: Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
