For students, alumni and fans, there’s nothing quite like college football on an autumn afternoon. The thrill of the action, the roar of the crowd and the beauty of a packed stadium all combine to make the sport one of the most popular in the nation in the 157 years since collegiate players first took the field for a game.
The experience has changed dramatically since 1869 — and not all for the better. The top tier of college football, known now as the Football Bowl Subdivision, resembles the professional game more with each passing year, prompting calls to implement rules to better manage the sport.
The Protect College Sports Act, which passed the Senate, is Congress’ answer, and while it’s far from perfect, it does erect some valuable guardrails that would help athletes and schools while preserving those aspects of the sport which ignite the public’s passion.
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Head to one of the commonwealth’s on-campus stadiums in the fall and the energy is almost tangible. In Norfolk, Blacksburg, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg, among many other places, the atmosphere is celebratory as people gather to share the roller coaster of watching their teams play.
As fun as it is for fans — and as important it is for players, coaches, staff and the schools themselves — major college football is also a lucrative business. The Knight-Newhouse Foundation reports that the FBS generated $13 billion in revenue in 2025, most of which came from media rights and donor contributions.
That’s nearly double the $7.7 billion generated in 2016, and the number keeps going up. The Government Accounting Office reports that revenue is far surpassed by expenses among Division I schools, meaning collegiate athletics is a losing proposition for many programs. But football, especially FBS football, is a money maker and helps many schools support other sports programs that don’t generate revenue.
Until recently, players — those student-athletes whose sweat puts people in the seats and gets eyes on the TV — didn’t share in that (at least, not legally). But the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) rights in 2021 opened the door to compensating players, and those at the pinnacle of the sport now earn millions each season. Loosened transfer rules have created a sort of free agency akin to pro sports.
This has created an arms race in major college football that has turned off many fans, despite the benefit to players. Several rounds of conference realignment have also shifted the landscape considerably — Stanford and Cal play in the Atlantic Coast Conference now — and coaches are the most highly compensated public employees in many states. That includes Virginia, where the Virginia Tech and University of Virginia coaches collectively make about $11 million a year.
The NCAA once regulated the sport, but a series of court losses rendered the organization almost helpless to implement rules. That, in turn, fueled calls for federal intervention, which has been a subject of considerable debate for years.
The Protect College Sports Act passed Monday on a bipartisan 77-22 vote. Sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, the bill provides a limited antitrust exemption to the NCAA, imposes a cap on athlete pay, limits players to one transfer without penalty and requires schools to maintain Olympic sports so they don’t shift that revenue to football.
It’s a flawed bill, which even some supporters admit. It would mean some athletes aren’t paid their fair market value, it doesn’t allow for players to seek collective bargaining rights and it doesn’t impose limits on compensation for coaches. Its rules about transfers and conference membership seem arbitrary and deferential to the Southeastern and Big Ten conferences, college football’s most influential.
But it does move the ball forward and, in this case, perfect would be an impossible bar to clear. The bill still must pass the House before Congress adjourns in January. It’s a worthwhile effort that warrants lawmakers’ support.
