119-hr5693

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5693 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

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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