House GOP leadership pulled a vote on legislation that aims to reshape college sports just hours before it was scheduled, after it received bipartisan opposition.
The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act is a pro-NCAA bill that would have been the first major sports bill to hit the floor since the Supreme Court cleared the path for student-athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness.
The vote being pulled comes as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) only has a two-seat margin, meaning the legislation would fail if just two Republicans opposed the bill, along with all Democrats. Democratic leadership advised their caucus to vote “no” on the measure, and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) was expected to vote against the legislation after holding up a procedural rule vote on Tuesday.
“The SCORE Act (college sports) is well-intended but falls short and is not ready for prime time,” Roy wrote on X as he outlined his concerns. “I will vote no. Putting aside the process problems (we should have been able to amend)… there are lots of legitimate concerns and questions.”
Roy has not been the only Republican to express opposition, making it a tough vote for leadership to pass with such a small margin. A handful of House Freedom Caucus members, including Roy, also helped hold up the procedural vote on Tuesday, as Republican leaders worked to flip enough votes to pass the rule with a narrow margin.
The bill came after the 2021 court ruling that allowed for endorsement deals and booster-run collectives, which are speeding up the fall of amateur athletics. It also opened the NCAA to litigation as athletes sued for back pay damages, resulting in a $2.8 billion settlement earlier this year.
The SCORE Act would fulfill the NCAA’s three biggest requests: it would provide protections from further lawsuits, a national standard that supersedes state laws, and language clarifying that students are not employees, meaning they should not receive salaries.
COLLEGE SPORTS BILL TO GET HOUSE VOTE AFTER YEARS-LONG NCAA PUSH
“That commitment leads us to the SCORE Act. This bipartisan bill does not pick winners and losers; it creates clear national standards, levels the playing field, and protects student-athletes in every state, school, and sport,” Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner. “The SCORE Act preserves what makes college sports special while bringing order to the chaos.”
If the House were to pass the legislation at a later date, it would still have an uphill battle in the Senate, as it would need Democratic votes to meet the 60-vote threshold.
David Sivak contributed to this article.