The Big Ten is drawing a line on NIL spending before Congress does.
On Wednesday, the conference announced that its member schools will operate under a $49 million NIL spending cap, effective immediately, in a move meant to line up with the framework of the Protect College Sports Act, which is still waiting on a House vote.
The Big Ten said the cap is divided into two pieces. One is the $21.6 million revenue-sharing limit tied to the House settlement. The other is a $27.5 million ceiling for third-party NIL money, including collective-driven spending.
“While we await the passage of the Protect College Sports Act, which has our full support, it is imperative our member institutions can begin to plan, budget and build their rosters approximating the act's economic structure,” the Big Ten council of chancellors said in a statement. “Our institutions remain in full support of the Protect College Sports Act and this rule not only allows for a much smoother transition into the policies put in place by the act once it passes, but demonstrates our commitment to it.”
Under the Protect College Sports Act, schools would be allowed to spend about $50 million on athlete compensation, but the structure is different. The House settlement figure stays in place, while athletic departments could add a retention fund of as much as $22.5 million to help keep players from leaving through the transfer portal. Schools would also be permitted to spend $5 million specifically for women’s and Olympic sports.
Even with the bill’s future unclear, the Big Ten’s move gives schools a financial roadmap for 2027 and beyond.
The timing matters because several Big Ten powers are already operating near that neighborhood. Oregon and Ohio State are spending more than $40 million on football alone this year, according to CBS Sports, while Michigan and USC are not far behind and are approaching the $40 million mark as well.
The Protect College Sports Act itself is still stuck in uncertainty. The House is on recess through the midterm elections on Tuesday and will return several days later on Nov.
- That could open the door to a vote, but the bill faces real questions in a lame-duck session.
The more important deadline is Jan. 3, when a new Congress takes office. If the bill hasn’t become law by then, it expires and has to start over from scratch.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who opposes the bill, told CBS Sports, “I'm not sure what the fight is going to be like in lame duck as they try to push this over the edge, especially if the House switches from Republican to Democrat,” Sen.
Cory Booker (D-N.J.), an opponent of the bill, told CBS Sports. “Democrats should have a chance to really author a bill that corrects for a lot of the failings in this bill.”
There are also unresolved disputes inside Congress. Some Republicans want athletes barred from being classified as employees, while others are pushing for a hard cap on international athletes in college sports.
If lawmakers make changes this late in the process, the bill would have to go back to the Senate for another vote, which would make an already shaky path even tougher.
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