This legislation, titled the "Protect College Sports Act of 2026," aims to establish a federal framework for student athlete name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights, enhance student athlete protections, and promote fair competition in intercollegiate athletics. It prohibits institutions, conferences, and athletic associations from restricting a student athlete's ability to market or earn compensation from their NIL, or from penalizing them with loss of eligibility or scholarships for doing so. Student athletes are required to disclose NIL agreements exceeding $600 to their institutions, which must then anonymize and report this data to intercollegiate athletic associations. The bill modifies the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (SPARTA) to include NIL agreements, requiring athlete agents to register with states, cap endorsement contract fees at 5 percent, and prohibit deceptive practices. Intercollegiate athletic associations must maintain a public, searchable database of registered agents and NIL agreement data to help student athletes estimate fair market value. Institutions are also mandated to report detailed financial, academic, and time commitment data for their sports programs. Student athlete welfare is significantly addressed through academic and medical protections. Institutions cannot unduly influence academic choices or retaliate against student athletes for their majors, and scholarships are protected from revocation due to athletic performance, injury, or roster management, with exceptions for transfers or conduct violations. Division I institutions must provide comprehensive medical coverage for sports-related injuries, including post-eligibility expenses for five years, and contribute to a catastrophic injury fund. The bill also mandates adherence to specific health and safety standards for brain injury, heat illness, and other conditions, and establishes an independent Office of the Student Athlete Ombudsman to provide advice and resolve concerns confidentially. To ensure fair competition and governance, the bill provides transfer protections, allowing one immediate transfer and additional transfers under specific circumstances like a coach's departure or sport discontinuation. It restricts mid-season coaching transitions in football to prevent tampering and mandates that at least one-third of intercollegiate athletic association governing board members be current or former student athletes. The legislation prohibits compensation that circumvents a defined revenue share cap, though it permits institutions to provide reasonable personal benefits related to education or athletics. Title II of the bill focuses on sports broadcasting, granting an antitrust exemption for a new "covered entity" formed by institutions or conferences to collectively sell media rights, provided it meets specific requirements. These requirements include broad membership, equitable voting rights for conferences, institutions, and student athletes, and a revenue allocation formula that ensures minimum distributions and protects women's and Olympic sports. The bill also mandates local broadcast access for college football and basketball games and prohibits certain large conference mergers. Finally, it establishes a Congressional Commission on the Future of College Athletics to provide recommendations on various aspects, including alternative compensation structures and the revenue share cap, while maintaining neutrality on student athlete employee status.