[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5693 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5693
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit certain private-
equity and sovereign wealth fund agreements involving intercollegiate
athletics.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 6, 2025
Mr. Baumgartner introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit certain private-
equity and sovereign wealth fund agreements involving intercollegiate
athletics.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect College Sports from Private
Equity and Foreign Influence Act'' or the ``PROTECT Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Intercollegiate athletics are conducted under the
auspices of nonprofit institutions of higher education and,
when properly governed, promote student development, campus
life, community identity, and broad public engagement in
education--benefits that constitute a public good aligned with
the educational missions those institutions are chartered to
serve.
(2) Intercollegiate athletics generate billions of dollars
in revenue annually through national media contracts,
sponsorships, and ticket sales that span multiple States,
creating a significant impact on interstate commerce.
(3) Public institutions of higher education are financed
and supported by taxpayers through direct appropriations, tax-
exempt status, subsidized Federal student aid, and tax-
advantaged debt, and therefore have a heightened obligation to
ensure that institutional assets--including intercollegiate
athletics programs and facilities--are managed for public
benefit and student welfare rather than private enrichment.
(4) Agreements that convey ownership, revenue-sharing,
control rights, or security interests in intercollegiate
athletics to private equity, hedge funds, or similar vehicles
are inherently conflicted, create pressure to maximize short-
term cash flows at the expense of educational and Title IX
obligations, and risk extracting wealth from publicly supported
institutions and their students--undermining transparency,
accountability, and the public purposes for which those
institutions exist.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.
Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(30) Prohibition on private-capital and sovereign wealth
agreements involving intercollegiate athletics.--
``(A) As a condition of eligibility under this
title, an institution shall not enter into, maintain,
or permit any agreement with a private capital firm or
a sovereign wealth fund that--
``(i) transfers, assigns, pledges, or
otherwise conveys to such firm or fund any
ownership, profit, net-revenue, or gross-
revenue interest arising from the institution's
intercollegiate athletics program, including
media, sponsorship, licensing, ticketing,
premium seating, data, or other commercial
rights;
``(ii) grants such firm or fund control
rights over athletics decisions, institutional
branding, scheduling, personnel, or student
participation; or
``(iii) establishes a joint venture, new
entity, or other agreement through which such
firm or fund receives any share of, or any
interest in, athletics-related revenues or
rights, including licensing and merchandising
rights, or athletics facilities or related real
property including any leasehold, sublease,
concession, easement, mortgage, deed of trust,
lien, or similar property interest.
``(B) Exceptions.--Subparagraph (A) shall not apply
to:
``(i) fee-for-service contracts for
discrete services;
``(ii) charitable contributions, gifts, or
grants;
``(iii) tax-exempt bond financings or
lease-purchase agreements with governmental
units or Sec. 501(c)(3) conduit issuers that do
not convey revenue interests or control rights
to a private capital firm; or
``(iv) sponsorships or advertising
agreements that provide brand placement without
revenue-sharing or control.
``(C) Conference and affiliate coverage.--An
institution shall ensure compliance with this paragraph
for any agreement entered by an athletics conference,
media-rights consortium, or other affiliate that
allocates, assigns, or encumbers the institution's
athletics-related revenues or rights.
``(D) Collectives and controlled entities.--This
paragraph applies to any collective, foundation,
affiliate, or separate legal entity that is directly or
indirectly owned, controlled, or operated by the
institution or its athletics department.
``(E) Certification and disclosure.--The Secretary
shall require annual program participation agreement
certification that the institution and its affiliates
have not entered into any agreement described under
subparagraph (A) and shall require public disclosure of
all agreements relying on an exception under
subparagraph (B).
``(F) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph:
``(i) Private capital firm.--The term
`private capital firm' means (I) a hedge fund
or private equity fund as those terms are
defined in 12 U.S.C. Sec. 1851(h)(2), (II) a
private fund as defined in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 80b-
2(a)(29), and (III) any investment adviser (as
defined in 15 U.S.C. Sec. 80b-2(a)(11)) that
advises a fund described in subclause (I) or
(II).
``(ii) Control rights.--The term `control
rights' includes consent, veto, or approval
rights over budgets, hiring, scheduling,
competition, branding, or strategic decisions;
or other rights to assume or direct management
or operations of an intercollegiate athletics
program or athletics facility.
``(iii) Intercollegiate athletics
program.--The term `intercollegiate athletics
program' includes teams, departments,
conferences, media or data rights, ticketing
and premium seating, sponsorships, licensing
and merchandising, and athletics facilities
used primarily for intercollegiate varsity
sports competition.
``(iv) Sovereign wealth fund.--The term
`sovereign wealth fund' means an investment
fund owned or controlled by a foreign state, an
agency or instrumentality of a foreign state
(as defined in 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1603), or an
agent of a foreign principal (as defined in 22
U.S.C. Sec. 611).
``(G) Transition.--Agreements in effect on the date
of enactment shall be brought into compliance or
terminated not later than 24 months after such date. No
agreement may be renewed or extended except in
compliance with this paragraph.
``(H) Rulemaking.--The Secretary of Education shall
issue regulations to carry out this paragraph after
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the
Securities and Exchange Commission; and shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, harmonize such regulations
with definitions and interpretations under the Federal
securities laws.''.
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