Auburn and Alabama don’t agree on much. That’s what made their joint stand against the Protect College Sports Act so notable.
Two weeks ago, the rivals released a shared letter opposing the bipartisan federal bill, which was introduced in the Senate in May 2026. The proposal would regulate Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL, protect Olympic and women’s sports, and give the NCAA limited antitrust exemptions.
In the letter, the schools said they appreciated Congress focusing on the issues facing college athletics and shared the goals of protecting student-athletes, sustaining women’s and Olympic sports, and creating a single national set of rules. But they argued the bill falls short.
“Auburn University and The University of Alabama both appreciate Congress’s attention to these challenges and share the goals of creating opportunities for and protecting student-athletes, sustaining women’s and Olympic sports, and promoting fair competition through a single, clear national set of rules,” part of the letter read. “But this bill does not meet that standard. In its current form, it solves little of what genuinely challenges college athletics and leaves the central questions to the courts, inviting the very litigation it claims to prevent.”
Ahead of SEC Media Days in Tampa, Auburn athletic director John Cohen was asked why Auburn would join Alabama on an issue like this. Cohen was not one of the two Auburn representatives who signed the letter, but he made clear the message carried weight.
“I think it’s pretty powerful,” Cohen said. “You have an Auburn and an Alabama together, I guess agreeing on anything, right?”
Cohen didn’t spell out every concern Auburn has with the bill, and he also kept his comments brief when asked what might come next if the legislation doesn’t pass.
“I think we still have opportunities that haven’t been fully, fully vetted yet, and that might end up where we are,” Cohen said. “I support everything that the commissioner mentioned today about supporting the efforts of Congress at this point in time, but for many, many reasons, there are certain issues that have to be addressed.”
The schools laid out several specific objections in their letter. They said the bill would weaken the enforcement of rules tied to the House settlement by narrowing the tools needed to hold every program to the same standard. They also warned it could spark new litigation because of what they see as inadequate antitrust protections, while opening the door to expanded private-rights actions and new forms of liability.
Another concern was the scope of federal control. Auburn and Alabama said the bill would “micromanage” college athletics, including roster decisions, game scheduling and internal governance.
They also argued the proposal could help private-equity interests that would profit from a redistribution of media-rights revenue, while pressuring schools to involuntarily pool those rights in a way that punishes success instead of rewarding it.
“The issues that we need, the things that need to be addressed, are very, very important to the future of the Southeastern Conference, and really to the future of intercollegiate athletics in our country,” Cohen said. And we felt strongly enough about that to do it in conjunction with the University of Alabama."
Auburn and Alabama are not the only rivals to push back publicly. Texas and Texas A&M issued a similar statement in late June.
The bill was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and it comes after the SCORE Act failed to move forward despite aiming to bring major changes to college sports.
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