2026年9月28日 / 美国东部时间晚上10:18 / 哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）新闻
华盛顿专电 参议院周四通过一项全面的大学体育法案，旨在建立联邦大学体育监管框架以保护学生运动员——尽管部分民主党人反对，他们认为该法案可能适得其反。
参议院以77票赞成、22票反对的结果通过了这项名为《保护大学体育法案》的法案，并附带了若干修正案。该法案对大学体育事务进行监管，包括转学资格以及姓名、形象和肖像权（NIL）。法案支持者认为，随着大量资金涌入该领域，该法案将稳定大学体育格局。
法案支持者称赞其统一的资格规则、体育薪酬透明度以及旨在保障女子和奥林匹克体育项目参赛机会的举措。
该法案的发起人、得克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹表示，该法案旨在遏制“无法控制的竞价大战”，这类竞争可能导致各大高校放弃利润较低的体育项目。
“我们当前的体育体系难以为继，这是显而易见的。学生运动员转学次数多达三四次，职业运动员试图和大学生同场竞技，相互矛盾的法院判决造成了支离破碎的体系——这并非任何人想要看到的结果。年轻的男女运动员正失去参赛和接受教育的机会，”法案发起人、得克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹说道。“参议院面临的问题是，在美国人熟知并喜爱了数十年的机构——大学体育——被彻底改变之际，我们是会采取行动，还是袖手旁观。”
该法案将采用一项和解协议中规定的收益共享框架，允许各高校在2026至2027学年向运动员分享约2160万美元资金，并为每个机构设立额外2250万美元的运动员留存基金。
此外，该法案还将允许运动员转学一次而不丧失参赛资格，并对运动员实施健康与安全保护措施等。
参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩近日称赞该法案是多年工作的成果，整合了教练、体育主管和学生运动员的意见。该法案得以通过并获得两党广泛支持，此前十大联盟和东南联盟的体育协会均已背书该法案，白宫也表示支持。
但部分议员和倡导团体表达了反对意见，例如美国国会黑人议员团，该团体称法案“未能有意义地吸纳黑人运动员、黑人教练、黑人经纪人、历史黑人学院和大学（HBCUs）以及美国国会黑人议员团的观点”。
新泽西州民主党参议员科里·布克曾是大学橄榄球运动员，他本月早些时候在参议院议场对该法案提出批评，与法案的主要民主党支持者、华盛顿州参议员玛丽亚·坎特韦尔展开辩论。布克表示，尽管“法案中有值得称赞的亮点”，但一些主要的运动员团体并未支持该法案，他们认为该法案“会损害他们的权利、破坏他们的集体谈判、削弱他们的健康与安全保障，并相对于法案中涉及的其他金钱利益方，为他们创造了一个不平等的竞争环境，包括教练群体”。
“多年来，我在《麦登橄榄球》游戏中看到过自己的形象——我自己的形象——却从未因此获得报酬，”布克说道。“如今运动员们诉诸法庭，一次又一次地胜诉。”
布克 lamented（遗憾地表示），在姓名、形象和肖像权问题上，国会数十年未采取行动，“但就在运动员们在法庭上赢得NIL权利之际，国会突然插手，声称我们是在保护他们的NIL权利？”
“这是谎言。现实是，他们不需要国会的仁慈行动来赋予他们NIL权利，他们已经在法庭上赢得了这些权利，”布克辩称。“该法案实际上是剥夺了他们合法挑战美国全国大学体育协会（NCAA）这个垄断组织的任何行为的权利。这也是美国诉讼律师协会（AAJ）反对该法案的原因，因为这会削弱他们未来打赢更多官司的能力。”
坎特韦尔反驳了布克的说法，称法案中的收益共享权意义重大，因为去年为高校开始向运动员支付数百万美元薪酬扫清障碍的和解协议可能会到期。
“我们认可这笔资金，认可收益共享权，这是历史性的首次举措，”坎特韦尔说道。
坎特韦尔称该立法是“两党共同努力的成果，旨在为一直困扰大学体育最重要方面的乱象带来理性解决方案”。她称赞该法案赋予运动员五年参赛资格，致力于保留女子和奥林匹克体育项目的参赛名额，努力解决“飙升的教练薪酬”问题，并提供举报人保护和医疗保障。她指出，该法案将成立一个由运动员组成的委员会，讨论如何在集体谈判等问题上推进相关工作。
康涅狄格州民主党参议员克里斯·墨菲也对该法案发表了看法，警告称该法案保护了一个剥削性体系，并质疑参议院为何在当前时刻将焦点放在大学体育上。
参议院即将在未来几天休会，直至中期选举结束，此时聚焦大学体育立法引发关注。
一些议员对此感到不满，认为参议院本应关注预计将在11月激励选民的经济负担能力问题。但参议院共和党领导人曾向法案发起人承诺，在参议院8月休会后将对该法案进行投票。而解决生活成本问题的相关提案可能会在本周晚些时候提出。
哥伦比亚广播公司的母公司派拉蒙天空娱乐（Paramount Skydance）在财务文件中披露，该公司已为这项大学体育法案的游说活动支付了费用。
Senate approves sweeping bill to regulate college sports, despite opposition from some Democrats
September 28, 2026 / 10:18 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — The Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping college sports bill to establish a federal framework for college athletics aimed at protecting student athletes — despite some pushback from Democrats who argue that it could do the opposite.
In a 77 to 22 vote, the Senate passed the bill, known as the Protect College Sports Act, with some amendments. The bill regulates college athletics, including transfer eligibility and name, image and likeness rights. Its backers argue that it will stabilize college athletics as a flood of money enters the space.
Proponents of the bill tout its uniform eligibility rules, transparency around athletic compensation and moves aimed at safeguarding opportunities in women’s and Olympic sports.
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the bill’s sponsor, said it is aimed at quelling the “uncontrollable bidding wars” that could lead colleges to drop less lucrative college sports.
“The system we have today is unsustainable, plain and simple. Students are transferring three and four times, pros are trying to play ball against college kids, conflicting court decisions have created a fragmented system, one that no one intended. And young men and women are losing opportunities to compete and receive an education,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the bill’s sponsor, said. “The question before this body is whether we will act or stand by while the institution that Americans have known and loved for generations — college sports — is fundamentally changed.”
The bill would adopt a revenue-sharing framework outlined in a settlement agreement, which allows universities to share roughly $21.6 million with athletes for the 2026-2027 school year, along with an athlete retention fund with an additional $22.5 million per institution.
It would also grant athletes one transfer without losing eligibility, and impose health and safety protections for athletes, among other things.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune praised the bill in recent days as the result of years of work, with input from coaches, athletic directors and student athletes. And the bill’s passage and strong bipartisan reception came after the Big Ten and SEC athletic conferences backed the legislation, which also has the backing of the White House.
But some lawmakers and advocacy groups have voiced their opposition, like the Congressional Black Caucus, which said the bill “has failed to meaningfully incorporate the perspectives of Black athletes, Black coaches, Black agents, HBCUs, or the Congressional Black Caucus.”
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a former college football player, took aim at the measure earlier this month on the Senate floor, sparring with the bill’s main Democratic backer, Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington. Booker said while there are “good things in this bill worthy of trumpeting,” some major athlete groups haven’t backed the bill, arguing that they know the bill “undermines their rights, undermines their collective bargaining, undermines their health and safety, creates an unequal playing field for them relative to the other monied interests in this bill, including the coaches.”
“For years and years and years, I watched my own image on Madden’s video game — my own image — and never got paid for that,” Booker said. “And now athletes bring it to the courts and win time and time again.”
Booker lamented that on name, image and likeness rights, Congress didn’t take action for decades, “but as soon as athletes start winning in court their NIL rights, suddenly Congress swoops in and is saying that we’re saving their NIL rights?”
“That is a lie. The reality is, they don’t need Congress’ beneficent actions to give them NIL rights, they’ve earned them in the courts,” Booker argued. “What this bill actually does is it takes away rights for them to legally challenge anything that the cartel of the NCAA does. That’s why the AAJ, the trial lawyers, are against this, because it undermines their ability to win more court cases in the future.”
Cantwell pushed back on Booker’s assertions, arguing that revenue-sharing rights in the bill could be meaningful because the settlement agreement that last year cleared the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions of dollars could expire.
“Us recognizing that money and recognizing the revenue sharing rights is a historic first,” Cantwell said.
Cantwell called the legislation the result of “a bipartisan effort to try to bring some reason to the craziness that has basically been plaguing the most important aspects of college sports.” And she praised the bill for giving athletes five years of eligibility, along with its work to preserve women’s and Olympic roster slots, its effort to address “skyrocketing coaches’ salaries,” and whistleblower and healthcare protections. She noted that the bill creates a commission made up of athletes to discuss how to move forward on issues like collective bargaining.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut has also spoken out about the legislation, warning that it protects an exploitative system — and questioning why the Senate’s focus is on college sports at this moment.
The attention on the college sports legislation comes as the Senate is preparing to leave town in the coming days until after the midterm elections.
Some senators have voiced frustration that the chamber is focusing on college sports, rather than on the affordability issues that are expected to motivate voters in November. But Senate GOP leaders had promised the bill’s sponsors a vote on the legislation after the chamber returned from its August recess. And a push to address cost-of-living issues may come later this week.
CBS News’ parent company, Paramount Skydance, has reported paying for lobbying for the college sports legislation in financial documents.