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The proposed SCORE Act promises to give the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the organization that regulates student athletics from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules, and would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools.
Shortly before it was brought to the floor Wednesday, House leadership canceled a vote on the SCORE Act. The decision came amid concerns about whether House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, had obtained the votes needed for its passage.
Following the delay, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expressed concern about the chaotic events that led to what ultimately became a failed attempt to advance the bill.
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United States House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) during a press conference at the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, Monday, November 10, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The question many people are asking this week regarding the SCORE Act legislation is who exactly directed Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to introduce this bill this week? Was it big donors connected to LSU? That legislation would not have benefited college athletes. It would harm college athletes, it would eliminate the antitrust exemption. It would preempt the ability of states to pass legislation that promotes the health, safety and well-being of their own college students.”
GOP REPRESENTATIVE RIPS BIG TEN COMMISH AFTER VOTE ON SCORING LAW IS DELAYED
Jeffries continued: “It would take away legal rights to seek relief that organized unions across the country strongly opposed because it undermined the ability of college athletes and undermined their freedom to bargain, took away their collective bargaining rights. And of course, the players’ associations of all sports leagues led by the NFL Players Association opposed it because they concluded, in evaluating the bill on its merits, that it would actually hurt college athletes, not help them.”
Jeffries then jokingly changed the name of the SCORE Act to the “Lane Kiffin Protection Act.”
Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media during SEC Media Day at the Omni Atlanta Hotel on July 14, 2025. (Jordan Godfree/Image Images)
“Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise think it was a good idea to bring the Lane Kiffin Protection Act to the House floor? Legislation that would do nothing to benefit college athletes and everything to benefit coaches like Lane Kiffin, who left town, abandoned his players in the middle of a playoff run to go get a $100 million contract from LSU, the home state of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.”
(L-R) House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) participate in the first nailing ceremony for the construction of the 2025 presidential inauguration platform on the west front of the United States Capitol Building on September 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“People are wondering why they decided to introduce this bill this week with all the other issues the country demands we focus on, led by the affordability crisis that they say is a scam and a hoax, but which the American people know is very real.”
A close procedural vote of 210 to 209 was enough to bring the bill to the House.
The SCORE Act requires schools to share revenue, under the terms of the House agreement, in the amount of 22 percent “if such rules provide that such pool limit is AT LEAST 22 percent of the average annual college sports revenue of the 70 highest-revenue schools.”
The bill would also prohibit schools from using student fees to fund NIL payments.
Proponents of the proposed legislation have argued that the SCORE Act would introduce some stability to college sports amid a landscape that increasingly lacks adequate regulation. However, critics have pointed to the possibility of possibly returning too much power to schools and the NCAA.
