PRIA Logo™
119-s-5561119th Congress

Protect America's Game Act

Sponsored By: Senator Sheehy, Tim [R-MT]

Introduced

Summary

Creates an antitrust exemption allowing colleges and conferences to jointly sell TV rights for their games. It would let those institutions form an entity to sell or transfer telecasting rights while keeping a protected broadcast window around the Army–Navy game.

Show full summary
  • Colleges and conferences: Would let institutions of higher education or their conferences form a single entity to jointly sell or transfer telecast rights and receive an antitrust exemption. The exemption only applies when agreements do not overlap the Army–Navy broadcast window.
  • Broadcasters and rights buyers: Gives legal clarity to third parties who buy packaged rights from multiple schools by protecting those joint-rights arrangements from antitrust challenge.
  • Army–Navy fans and tradition: Defines the protected window as 1 hour before kickoff to 30 minutes after the telecast ends on the second Saturday in December and removes the exemption for any postseason Football Bowl Subdivision contest that would air during that window.

Personalized for You

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Antitrust exemption for college broadcasts

This bill would let qualifying colleges and their conferences jointly form an entity to sell or transfer sponsored telecasting rights without federal antitrust exposure. The exemption would apply only to joint agreements among institutions of higher education or conferences made up of those institutions. The exemption would not apply if the agreement would sponsor, telecast, or authorize a postseason Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) contest during the protected Army–Navy Game window. The protected window would run from one hour before the Army–Navy kickoff until 30 minutes after the telecast's official end; the Army–Navy Game is held on the second Saturday in December.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Sheehy, Tim [R-MT]

MT • R

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK]

    AK • R

    Sponsored 9/24/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov
Back to Legislation