Why it Matters

College athletics is in the middle of a financial transformation with no federal rulebook. NCAA Division I athletes are on track to receive an estimated $2.3 billion in NIL and revenue sharing compensation during the 2025–26 academic year — yet there is no uniform federal standard governing how those deals are structured, whether they compromise academic obligations, or how athletes in non-revenue sports are protected. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is stepping into that void.

The question before the committee is not simply whether athletes are being paid, but whether the current structure positions them for long-term success — academically, financially, and physically — or whether it prioritizes short-term revenue extraction.

The HELP Committee's college athlete NIL hearing, scheduled for March 26, "Don't Fumble Their Future: Positioning Student-Athletes for Success in School and Beyond." will be chaired by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) serving as Ranking Member, the hearing arrives as competing legislative proposals circulate on Capitol Hill and major athletic conferences ramp up their lobbying presence in Washington.

A System Under Strain

The financial disparities inside college athletics are stark. As of March 2026, Texas quarterback Arch Manning carried an NIL valuation of $5.4 million, according to ESPN — while the vast majority of the roughly half-million NCAA student-athletes earn nothing close to that figure. The College Sports Commission, which oversees the revenue-sharing framework emerging from the House v. NCAA settlement, has set the annual school revenue-sharing cap at approximately $20.5 million for the 2025–26 season. But the Commission's CEO has warned publicly that a high volume of "manufactured" NIL deals — arrangements that don't count toward the cap — are straining the system's integrity.

That backdrop gives the Don't Fumble Their Future hearing its urgency.

Legislative Proposals Taking Shape

The Senate HELP Committee student athletes hearing lands as multiple bills are moving through Congress, each offering a different answer to how federal policy should govern college sports.

Sen. Blumenthal has urged passage of the Student Athlete Fairness and Enforcement (SAFE) Act, which would require that payments to athletes be tied to legitimate NIL use — not pay-for-play arrangements run through collectives. The bill also includes academic and fan-interest protections.

In the House, Rep. Baumgartner introduced the Restore College Sports Act (H.R. 2663), which would create a national NIL revenue-sharing pool distributed equally across all student-athletes regardless of sport or star power — a direct challenge to the current market-driven model that concentrates money among a small number of high-profile athletes.

A separate Senate measure, S.2932, focuses on the health dimension of college athlete education rights, covering brain injury protocols, concussion management, and heat-related illness — issues that fall squarely within the HELP Committee's jurisdiction.

Who's Lobbying — and How Much

The NIL college sports legislation 2026 debate has drawn sustained lobbying from the conferences and institutions most directly affected.

The Southeastern Conference reported $30,000 in lobbying expenditures in the first quarter of 2025 and another $30,000 in the second quarter. The Big 12 Conference filed a first-quarter amendment reporting $10,000, followed by $40,000 in the second quarter. The University of Alabama System reported $200,000 in fourth-quarter 2025 lobbying expenditures. The National Strength and Conditioning Association, which represents professionals who work directly with student-athletes on training and health, registered a new federal lobbying client in August 2025 at $50,000.

None of the conferences or the NSCA appear to operate federal PACs registered with the FEC, according to available campaign finance records.

The Academic Dimension

The student-athlete success Senate hearing also touches on what happens after athletic eligibility ends. The NCAA awarded $10,000 postgraduate scholarships to 42 fall-sport athletes across all three divisions in March 2026 — a signal that institutions recognize the gap between athletic careers and long-term economic mobility. Whether voluntary institutional programs are sufficient, or whether federal standards are needed, is among the central questions the HELP Committee is expected to probe.

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