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The SCORE bill promises to give the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the organization that regulates student sports from possible lawsuits over eligibility rules, and it would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools.
Shortly before it was introduced Wednesday, House leaders canceled a vote on the SCORE Act. The decision came amid concerns about whether House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had secured the votes required for passage.
Following the delay, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., expressed concerns about the chaotic events that led to what ultimately became a failure to move the bill forward.
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U.S. 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 ordered Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to introduce this bill this week? Were they the big donors connected to LSU? This legislation would not have benefited college athletes. It would harm college athletes, remove the antitrust exemption. It would prevent states from actually passing legislation that promotes the health, safety and welfare of their own students.”
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Jeffries continued: “It would remove legal rights to seek relief. Organized unions across the country were strongly opposed because it undermined college athletes’ ability and their freedom to negotiate, took away collective bargaining rights. And of course, the players’ associations of all sports leagues led by the NFL Players Association opposed it because they concluded, when evaluating the bill on its merits, that it would actually harm college athletes, instead of helping them.
Jeffries then facetiously renamed the SCORE Act 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/Imagn Images)
“Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise think it was a good idea to introduce the Lane Kiffin Protection Act in the House of Representatives? 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 race to go after a $100 million contract with LSU, the home state of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.”
(L-R) House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the 2025 Presidential Inauguration Deck on the West Front of the United States Capitol, September 18, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“People are asking the question: why did you decide to introduce this bill this week with all the other issues the country demands we focus on, led by the affordability crisis that they claim is a scam and a hoax, but which the American people know is real.”
A close procedural vote of 210-209 was enough to bring the bill to the House.
The SCORE Act calls for schools to share revenue, in accordance with the terms of the House rules, in the amount of 22 percent “if such rules provide that such pool limit is AT LEAST 22 percent of the average annual college athletic revenue of the 70 highest-paying schools.”
The bill would also prohibit schools from using tuition fees to fund zero payments.
Supporters of the bill argued that the SCORE Act would introduce some stability to college sports in a landscape that increasingly lacks adequate regulation. However, critics have pointed to the possibility of arguably giving too much power back to schools and the NCAA.
