State university officials want Congress to pass an antitrust exemption for the NCAA to establish a salary cap, along with transfer and eligibility regulations on student athletic programs.
The recommendation was one of 19 proposals the State University System’s Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics discussed during a meeting Tuesday. Ultimately, the panel backed seven ideas to adapt to the evolving world of college athletics.
Without federal action, the panel would recommend the Florida Legislature join multi-state agreements on issues ranging from student pay and eligibility to caps on student-athlete agent compensation.
“What we’re seeing in intercollegiate athletics today is not really a free market,” said state university system Board of Trustees Chairman Alan Levine. “A free market is where you have a buyer and a seller and the government is not setting prices. But you got states like Louisiana that are passing taxes and using public dollars to basically subsidize their athletic programs, and you have other states, like Florida, that are loathe to do that.”
Among the proposals that weren’t recommended are measures to allow schools to increase fees on tickets, concessions, and sports betting, along with apparel and other branding deals.
“My goal would be not to raise taxes in any form to pay for college athletics,” said Task Force Chairman Ken Jones during the meeting at the University of Central Florida.
University of Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said a conversation is needed on sports betting, which he said generated $3 billion from Florida's college sports in 2025.
“I would venture to say that sports betting is an area in our state where money is being made off of our athletic programs and none of that money is showing back up in our athletic programs," Stricklin said.
Other ideas discussed by the task force were proposals regarding: state funding for athletics-facility debt services, which is being done in Wisconsin; a new student fee directed to athlete payments; creating “game day experiences’ for fans to purchase; protecting or reinstating rivalry games; setting up a “personal seat donation program” for football tickets; and offering tours, events and stadium rentals, which some schools already provide.
Measures that found support Tuesday included the need to expand state law that protects universities regarding student-athlete name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, and providing student-athletes with financial literacy training and advisors.
Task force member Keith Perry, a former state senator from Gainesville, said part of any training is how students coming into money need to talk to family members.
“What’s not in financial planning is the relatives and everybody else who now comes out and now needs money,” Perry said.
The panel also voiced support for regulations on agents, from registration and fees to a cap on compensation.
The proposal comes as Congress continues to debate the Protect College Sports Act, which has been rewritten repeatedly over the past five months.
The measure would enact a limited antitrust exemption for the NCAA and conferences to enforce eligibility and transfer rules, a five-year eligibility window for athletes, a ban on professional athletes returning to college, a one-time transfer exception, cap agent commissions at 5 percent, and set the revenue-share cap with athletes at $48.8 million, which includes the current $21.3 million base, $22.5 million for a retention pool, and $5 million for womens’ and non-revenue sports.
Some of the details irk school officials because the act caps conference growth at 19 and requires schools moving between conferences to spend five years as an independent.
Florida State University Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins didn’t question the cap but didn’t “understand the public purpose” of having to play as an independent.
The federal rule could affect FSU if it were to look to join the Big Ten Conference, currently at 18 members, in 2030 when the conference is set to negotiate a new television deal.
Any task force recommendation would still require approval from the Board of Trustees.
