As SCORE Act Vote Gets Canceled, a New College Sports Bill May Emerge

For the second time in less than a year, House leadership canceled an officially scheduled vote on the SCORE Act. A vote to pass the NCAA-backed legislation was scheduled for this week, but House leadership pulled it off the schedule on Monday night.

But another college sports bill might have a better chance of making it to the president’s desk.

Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) are in deep negotiations for a bipartisan bill. But as of Tuesday morning a deal had not been reached, a source familiar with the discussions told Front Office Sports.

A Tumultuous Year on Capitol Hill

The SCORE Act has been endorsed by the NCAA and power conferences, as it largely reflects their interests. The bill would offer antitrust protections for the NCAA to set its own rules on eligibility, transfers, and athlete compensation; pre-empt state NIL laws; and prohibit college athletes from being deemed employees, and therefore having the right to collectively bargain.

But the bill has had a troubled path to the House floor. A vote tentatively scheduled for September was delayed; Then, in December, House leadership scheduled the bill for a floor vote, but canceled it just a few hours before.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Cruz has been engaged with Democrats for the past couple of years over a bipartisan college sports bill, but hasn’t yet had any success.

How the SCORE Act Fell Apart—Again

This week, House leadership attempted to resurrect the SCORE Act.

The bill was scheduled for a Rules Committee markup on Tuesday—the precursor for a floor vote, which was tentatively set for Wednesday. But on Monday night, leadership canceled the vote.

On Tuesday, Rep. Lori Trahan (D., Mass.) said during a press conference that House leadership canceled the vote simply because there weren’t enough yeses.

Because some Republicans were considering voting no on the SCORE Act, according to two Capitol Hill sources, administrators from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) aimed to drum up support for the bill in the Congressional Black Caucus ( the no-employee clause would save HBCUs money). But on Monday night, the CBC came out in “unanimous opposition” to the bill, announcing CBC membersReps. Shomari Figures (D., Ala.) and Janelle Bynum (D., Ore.),previously co-sponsors of the SCORE Act, pulled their support.

For some CBC members, the key factor was unrelated to the bill. They went against it because college sports administrators haven’t spoken up on their behalf in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which weakened the Voting Rights Act, the CBC said in their statement Monday. (On Tuesday, the NAACP launched a campaign asking Black athletes, alumni, and fans to withhold financial support for schools in eight southern states with athletic budgets of $100 million or more, to force them to engage on the issue.)

Meanwhile, opposition continued from other longtime detractors of the bill, including Trahan, who has opposed the bill and introduced college sports legislation of her own. Trahan held a press conference Tuesday with current and former athletes—as well as NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke—criticizing the bill. 

College athlete advocacy group Athletes.org also came out against it.

Senators Work Toward a Bipartisan Deal

Over the past few weeks, Cantwell and Cruz have been engaged in conversations—notable not just because of the bipartisan nature of the talks, but also because they’re the chair and ranking member of the Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over college sports legislation. While still negotiating as of Tuesday, they’ve made meaningful progress on a deal, the first source said. 

More than 30 participants of President Trump’s Roundable on the future of college sports and his presidential committees have signed a letter supporting the bipartisan efforts of the two senators—they included multiple university presidents, athletic directors, and the commissioners of the ACC, Big 12, and the American. 

At this point, however, it’s unclear what specifically may be in the bill, as multiple sources in and around Capitol Hill told FOS they have not yet seen drafts, and as negotiations continue. One source familiar with the discussions told FOS the bill will aim to address the transfer portal, as well as the potential for pooling of conference media rights. The source noted that employee status of college athletes will also likely be addressed, though discussions are ongoing regarding how that will look— it will not be the same as the blanket ban in the SCORE Act.

As of now, a specific timeline for introduction of a bill is unclear, though the first source said Monday that a deal was “close.”