Alabama senators propose amendment to count all NIL money toward revenue-share cap

Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville filed the change as the Protect College Sports Act advanced past another Senate procedural vote Tuesday.

Two Republican senators from Alabama, Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, have filed an amendment targeting how revenue sharing is calculated in the Protect College Sports Act, according to Yahoo! Sports' Ross Dellenger. The proposal would set a firm ceiling on athlete revenue sharing and require NIL payments from affiliated groups to count against that limit. Those groups would include school sponsors, multimedia rights holders and NIL collectives.

Lawmakers were asked to sign off on the amendment by unanimous consent, but the request did not go through, and it remains uncertain whether the measure will be attached to the legislation. The amendment's language directs that any name, image and likeness agreement between a student athlete and a school, conference, their employees or volunteers, or an affiliated entity be applied toward that school's revenue-share cap.

The filing landed just after the bill passed its third 60-vote procedural test on Tuesday, keeping it on track for a full Senate vote this week. The legislation, a bipartisan effort led by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Maria Cantwell of Washington and introduced in May, previously cleared cloture votes of 74-24 and 77 in favor. Cruz noted that counting two absent co-sponsors, Chris Coons and Jacky Rosen, the first tally effectively stood at 76-24.

Under the bill, the revenue-share cap would rise from the $21.3 million set in the House settlement to $48.8 million. That total is divided into $21.3 million for high school recruits and transfers, a $22.5 million pool for retaining athletes and $5 million for athletes in non-revenue sports. The bill would also fold all NIL agreements with affiliated entities into the cap, unlike the current House settlement framework, where such deals still need College Sports Commission approval after a magistrate judge upheld the existing model.

Should the Senate pass the measure, the House — now in recess until after the midterm elections — could not act until mid-November. Cruz has said he hopes President Donald Trump will sign the bill on ESPN's College GameDay, and Trump has publicly pledged to sign it if it reaches his desk.