SCORE Act Pulled Again: Why the House Canceled the College Sports Vote
By faNILy Team ·
The SCORE Act is stuck again. House leadership canceled a planned vote on the NCAA-backed college sports bill Monday night, May 18, after a floor vote had been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday. According to Front Office Sports, it's the second time in less than a year the vote has been pulled.
What the bill would do
As Sportico summarized it, the SCORE Act would give the NCAA, conferences and schools antitrust protection on rules around transfers, eligibility, NIL and agents. It would also declare that college athletes aren't employees and that state laws can't conflict with it.
Backers see that as the stability college sports needs. Critics see it as giving the NCAA too much power over athletes.
Why it stalled
Front Office Sports reported that the Congressional Black Caucus announced unanimous opposition to the bill. For some members, the key factor was college sports administrators' silence after the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision, which weakened the Voting Rights Act. Two CBC members who had cosponsored the bill, Reps. Shomari Figures and Janelle Bynum, withdrew as cosponsors.
Opposition also came from Rep. Lori Trahan and advocacy groups like Athletes.org.
Sportico added that even a House win wouldn't have guaranteed much. The bill would still have needed 60 senators to get past a filibuster.
A long losing streak
Congress has been here before. Sportico noted that more than 40 college sports reform bills have been introduced since 2020, and not one has advanced.
In the meantime, the White House has stepped in. In April, President Trump signed an executive order on college sports that, among other things, targets what it calls "fraudulent NIL" schemes, meaning payments above fair market value tied to an athlete's participation, and calls for eligibility of no more than five years. Still, the order isn't a law passed by Congress, which is where the SCORE Act's antitrust and employment provisions would have to come from.
What could come next
The action may shift to the Senate. Front Office Sports reported that Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell are negotiating a bipartisan alternative. No deal was final, though a source described it as "close" as of Monday.
That bill could address the transfer portal and possibly allow conferences to pool media rights. FOS reported it would also deal with athlete employment status, though not as a blanket ban like the SCORE Act.
What it means for athletes and fans
For now, nothing changes. NIL is still governed by the House settlement, the College Sports Commission and a patchwork of state laws. Rules for an athlete in Georgia can differ from rules in Texas or California.
For fans, the takeaway is patience. A national framework is still the goal for almost everyone involved, but the path there keeps getting rerouted. Watch the Senate in the coming weeks.