Traci Bransford, Timothy Graham, and Shayla Wright wrote an article for Sports Litigation Alert examining the major legal and regulatory shifts that are reshaping how colleges support and compensate student‑athletes.

The end of 2025 marked a major escalation in the governance of college sports. In late November, the newly created College Sports Commission (CSC) delivered an 11‑page participation agreement to all 68 Power Four schools, requiring them to waive their right to sue and accept the CSC’s sole authority over revenue‑sharing enforcement. The proposal arrived during a historic year shaped by the House settlement—which opened the door for Division I schools to directly share revenue with student‑athletes—and followed Congress’s failure to pass the SCORE Act, which would have offered the NCAA some protection from antitrust challenges.

“Without an antitrust exemption or a collective bargaining agreement that involves significant student‑athlete input, there remains to be questions surrounding how the NCAA should enforce NIL and revenue‑sharing rules. Those very questions may continue to go unanswered in 2026,” they said.

Although CSC’s agreement cannot take effect unless every Power Four school signs on, it still serves as a thunderous exclamation point on an already groundbreaking year in college sports by potentially placing even more power in CSC’s hands and raising legal questions that create a compliance nightmare for institutions.

“By all indications, 2026 shows no signs of slowing down as legal and regulatory pressure continues to build around college sports,” they wrote.

Subscribers can read the full article here: College Athletics Saw Dramatic Legal and Regulatory Shifts in 2025. Here’s What’s in Store for This Year.

Sports Litigation Alert is a newsletter dedicated to helping attorneys and legal professionals stay current on sports‑law developments.