Sports · Tuesday, 29 September 2026

01 Briefing what happened

The US Senate votes 77-22 to let college sport cap what athletes are paid without being sued. The House is not due back until after November's elections.

The bill more than doubles what a school may pay its players, to about $49m a year, and shields that limit from most lawsuits. A cap on coaches' pay was voted down.

77-22

the US Senate vote that passed the bill on Monday night

more than 40 college sports bills since 2020 never reached a floor vote [3][7]

$49m

the most a school could pay its own players in a year under the bill

up from about $21.5m under the 2025 court settlement [1][6]

52-47

the US Senate vote against capping coaches' pay at $5m a year

the 15 best-paid college football coaches each earn more than $10m [1][8]

The lead story — what happened

The US Senate voted 77 to 22 on Monday night to pass the Protect College Sports Act, a law for college sport across the United States. [1][3]
It would give the NCAA, which runs most US college sport, and its conferences a shield from federal lawsuits when they enforce limits on athletes' pay and transfers. [3][6]
Antitrust law normally stops rival businesses from agreeing to hold down what they pay. Pro leagues' salary caps are legal because players' unions agreed to them. [8]
College athletes are not employees and cannot bargain through a union. [8] A 2021 US Supreme Court ruling made clear the NCAA is not exempt from antitrust law. [1]
States led by California have passed their own laws letting athletes earn from sponsors. Courts have also struck down NCAA rules, such as its old limit on transfers. [3][5]
Schools may now pay their players up to about $21.5m a year, a limit set by a 2025 court settlement. [5][6]
The bill adds up to $27.5m more: a $22.5m fund for keeping players from leaving, and $5m for women's and smaller sports. [6][7]
Athletes could change school once without sitting out a season. They would get five years to play, starting when they finish high school or turn 19. [1]
The US Senate voted 52-47 against capping coaches' pay at $5m a year. The 15 best-paid college football coaches each earn more than $10m. [1][8]
The biggest conferences would be limited to 20 schools. A school that switches would spend three years without a conference. [1]
The bill does not say whether athletes are employees who could form a union. Ted Cruz, its Republican co-author, said ruling that out was too much for Democrats to accept. [1]
An amendment kept athletes' right to sue their schools under state law over things such as sexual misconduct or a wrongful death. [1][3]

Limit now$21.50m

Limit under the bill$49m

The most a school may pay its own players in a year, in millions of dollars. The rise is a $22.5m fund for keeping players and $5m for other sports.

Who is involved

Ted Cruz

a Republican senator from Texas who wrote the bill with Cantwell; he wants President Trump to sign it live on ESPN
Maria Cantwell

a Democratic senator who represents Washington state and the bill's co-author; she wants to stop colleges moving money from teaching into a spending race on sport
Charlie Baker

the NCAA's president and a former governor of Massachusetts; getting this shield from Congress is a large part of his job
Cory Booker

a Democratic senator from New Jersey who played college football; he opposed the bill and says it sells out college athletes
Mike Johnson

the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, the other half of Congress; he controls when it votes

How it unfolded

2021 The US Supreme Court makes clear the NCAA is not exempt from antitrust law [1]
2025 A court settlement lets schools pay their players directly, up to a limit [6]
May Cruz and Cantwell introduce the bill [3]
Monday After six hours of debate and amendments, the US Senate passes it 77-22 [4][1]
9 Nov The House is due back from its recess, after the 3 November elections [3][2]
3 Jan A new Congress starts, and a bill not yet passed has to start again [4]

Where this points

Watch whether Speaker Mike Johnson calls the House back early, as Cruz hopes. If the House changes the bill, the US Senate has to vote again before 3 January. [9][4]

What is pushing on the whole day

The bar and the word are our reading of how hard each one is pushing today. The arrow is where it is heading. The evidence is in the stories below.

Governments and courts stepping in High↑

The US Senate voted to shield college sport's limits on athletes' pay from lawsuits. [3] A US appeals court let Ohio and Tennessee apply their gambling laws to Kalshi, an app for trading on sports results. [19] Brazil's president banned online betting across the country last week. [21]

Big payers changing their plans Building↑

Saudi Arabia's national wealth fund is ending a $15m series of women's golf events in Europe. [25] FIFA's president said he will back more money for its 211 member countries. [10] Two of FIFA's regional bodies had asked for at least $10m for each member. [11]

Punishments not yet final Building→

Manchester City, found guilty of breaking the Premier League's money rules, are expected to appeal. [22] A source told Reuters the case will drag on. [22] Leicestershire, an English county cricket club, got eight points back on Monday and still plans to appeal. [32]

Players speaking out Building↑

Seven Arizona State ice hockey players wrote to their university disputing its account of a teammate's collapse. [38] Brian Dawkins, a retired American football star, said he never let the US government use his image in a video. [37] Two college players' groups opposed the US Senate bill. [7]

Clubs giving up on people fast Building→

The Minnesota Vikings traded J.J. McCarthy, their first choice in the 2024 draft, after 10 starts. [17] The Seattle Mariners are replacing their manager, Dan Wilson, after one losing season. [30] A year earlier Seattle were one win from the World Series. [30]

The rest of the day

15 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
FIFA opens the door to paying its members more

Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, the body that runs world football, wrote to its six regional bodies on Monday. [10][13] He said he would back the greatest amount of extra money for FIFA's 211 member countries that can responsibly be paid. [11] UEFA, which runs European football, and CONCACAF, for North and Central America, had asked FIFA to pay each of those countries at least $10m over 2027-30. [10] That comes to about $2.1bn, and they said FIFA's savings would reach about $6bn by the end of 2026. [10] FIFA's council will look at the idea on 15 October. [12]

Why it matters — Infantino stands for a fourth term as president in March, and so far nobody has entered against him; rivals have until 18 November. [13][11] He also defended his withdrawn plan to sell part of the World Cup to investors, saying it would have added money, not replaced it. [10][12]
03
A top-10 pick traded for a fifth-rounder

The New York Giants traded a 2027 fifth-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday for quarterback J.J. McCarthy, 23. [15] The Vikings chose him 10th in the 2024 draft, the yearly share-out of college players among NFL teams. [15] He missed his first season injured and started only 10 games for Minnesota. [17] Last season his passer rating, a score for how well a quarterback throws, was the lowest of the 33 who played enough to qualify. [16] The Giants lost their starter, Jaxson Dart, to knee surgery last week. [15]

No. 10 pickChosen in 2024
5th-round pickTraded in 2026
The Vikings used the 10th pick of the 2024 draft on McCarthy. Two years later a fifth-round pick was enough to get him.

Why it matters — McCarthy had fallen to third choice in Minnesota, behind Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz. [18] The Giants' coach, John Harbaugh, says Jameis Winston will still start on Sunday, and McCarthy will count $3.8m against the Giants' pay limit next season. [16]
04
Kalshi loses in a US appeals court

A US federal appeals court, the Sixth Circuit, ruled on Friday that Ohio and Tennessee may apply their gambling laws to Kalshi. [20][19] Kalshi runs a prediction market, an app where people buy contracts on the results of games. [19] It argues that only the national regulator for financial contracts may oversee it. [19] The judges said a sports result is not the kind of financial contract that national law covers. [19] Another appeals court, the Third Circuit, ruled the other way, and the US Supreme Court is considering whether to hear that case. [19]

Why it matters — The Ninth Circuit, which covers the western US, has also sided with the states, so the same contract is treated differently from state to state until the US Supreme Court decides. [19] FanDuel and DraftKings, which run state-licensed betting apps, face new competition from Kalshi-style markets, most of all in states where sports betting is not legal. [21]
05
Brazil bans online betting, and Flutter loses again

Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, banned online betting last week, and the ban is expected to face legal challenges. [21] Flutter, the company that owns the US betting app FanDuel, said on Monday it could lose about $70m of revenue this year if its Brazil business stays shut. [21] Last year India passed a law curbing online bets. [21] That cost Flutter about $250m of revenue it had expected this year, after it paid $237m for an Indian gaming company. [21]

Why it matters — Flutter's shares fell 7.9% on Monday and are down more than 60% this year. [21] Its long-time boss, Peter Jackson, leaves at the end of the month. [21]
06
City's chairman and Mancini answer the verdict

Last week an independent panel found Manchester City guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League's money rules. [22] On Saturday City's chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, wrote to fans that the club is still confident of proving its innocence. [22] Roberto Mancini, City's manager when they won the 2012 title, said before Italy's game on Monday that claims about a 'double contract' were not his concern. [23] A German magazine reported in 2018 that he was also paid as a consultant by Al Jazira, an Abu Dhabi club tied to City's owner. [23]

Why it matters — Any appeal goes to a three-person board, and City cannot take it to sport's highest court, which once lifted a UEFA ban on them. [22] A hearing on the punishment could be months away, and City lead the league as they go to Liverpool on 11 October. [24][22]
07
Saudi money leaves women's golf in Europe

The Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia's national wealth fund, will stop paying for a $15m series of five women's golf events after this year. [25] They are on the Ladies European Tour, where most tournaments pay $500,000 or less in total. [25] In their place Golf Saudi will back one $4m event in July 2027, run with the LPGA, the main US women's tour. [25][26] The fund has already said it will stop paying for LIV Golf, the men's league it spent more than $5bn on. [26][25]

Five events, 2026$15m
One event, 2027$4m
Saudi-funded prize money on the Ladies European Tour. Golf Saudi will also pay the season-long bonus, whose 2027 amount is not yet set.

Why it matters — The European tour is mostly where players try to earn their way to the LPGA, and Front Office Sports calls the loss of these events a major blow. [25] Golf Saudi says it will now spend on golf inside Saudi Arabia and on the tour's season-long points race. [25][26]
08
France win late in Belgium, Italy win big

France won 1-0 in Belgium in the Nations League, a competition between European national teams, on Monday. [27] Michael Olise scored in the 89th minute. [29] Italy beat Turkey 4-1 in Bursa, three days after losing 2-0 at home to Belgium in Roberto Mancini's first game back as coach. [27][28] France lead the group with six points from two games, and play Italy in Paris on Friday. [29][27]

Why it matters — Italy missed this year's World Cup, and Mancini said his players had not deserved the criticism after the Belgium defeat. [28] Northern Ireland drew 0-0 at home to Hungary, and Ukraine drew 0-0 in Georgia. [27]
09
Seattle's manager goes on baseball's Black Monday

The Seattle Mariners, a baseball club, are replacing manager Dan Wilson and most of his coaches after a 76-86 season. [30] A year ago Seattle reached game seven of the American League's final series, one win from the World Series. [30] Front Office Sports says Wilson was fired, while CBS Sports says he told the club he would not return. [30][31] It opened what Front Office Sports calls baseball's Black Monday, when clubs that missed the playoffs change their leaders. [30]

Why it matters — Arizona's manager, Torey Lovullo, is out of contract after his team missed the playoffs on the last day. [30] The Los Angeles Angels, who lost 100 games for the first time, are being bought by Stan Kroenke for a record $4bn. [30]
10
Leicestershire get eight points back

Leicestershire, an English county cricket club, got eight of its 27 deducted points back on Monday. [32][33] It was punished for a pitch rated poor in a win over Glamorgan in August, after the match referee logged 43 examples of uneven bounce. [33] English cricket's regulator went back to the disciplinary panel because a separate, automatic 19-point loss had not been weighed when the penalty was set. [32][33] The panel said it would have cut the whole penalty to eight points if it could. [32]

Taken at first27 points
Taken after Monday19 points
Points deducted from Leicestershire. The panel returned the extra eight it had added, but the automatic 19 for a poor pitch stays unless the appeal wins.

Why it matters — It has no power over the automatic rule, so Leicestershire are still 17 points behind Essex. [32] They will be relegated from the top division unless their appeal succeeds. [32]
11
NBC's first baseball playoffs since 2000

Baseball's playoffs start on Tuesday, and NBC, a US television network, has the whole first round to itself. [34] It is NBC's first playoff baseball since 2000, under a three-year deal worth about $600m. [34] Its Sunday night games this season averaged 2.7m viewers, the most for that slot since 2007. [34] The New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, out since 16 September with a calf strain, took live at-bats on Monday to push for a place in the squad. [35]

Why it matters — The Yankees play the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, and NBC has put that series in its best evening slot. [34][35] Judge said he knows the risk includes an injury to his Achilles tendon. [35]
12
Two late fouls that video cannot review

Two late pass interference calls, fouls for illegally blocking a player trying to catch the ball, shaped two big NFL games on Sunday. [36] In Denver a flag on the Rams' Josh Wallace wiped out what could have been a game-saving interception, a catch by the defending side, and the Broncos scored the winning touchdown. [36] Former referees working as TV analysts for CBS and NBC both said on air they disagreed with the calls. [36] The NFL declined to comment on Monday. [36]

Why it matters — The league made pass interference reviewable on video replay in 2019, then dropped it after 21 of 29 teams in a survey opposed keeping it. [36] So a call like these cannot be overturned. [36]
13
A government video the NFL wants taken down

By Monday afternoon the US Department of Homeland Security had still not removed a video of Brian Dawkins, a retired American football star. [37] It used his tackles in a post about migrants heading for the US border. [37] The NFL, which controls how its game footage is used, asked for it to be taken down. [37] Dawkins said he never gave permission for his name or image to be used. [37]

Why it matters — A department spokesperson answered with a joke on Dawkins's nickname, Weapon X. [37] In March former players also criticised a Trump administration video that set football hits beside military attacks on Iran. [37]
14
Hockey players dispute their university's account

Seven Arizona State University ice hockey players sent the university's president a 26-page letter on Monday. [38] It disputes the university's account of an August workout in which first-year player Matthew Mayich collapsed. [38] He is still in hospital, and his family's lawyer says heatstroke cut off oxygen to his brain. [38] The players say he was never given water, and that there was no ice or cooling tub at the session. [38]

Why it matters — They want the coaches put on leave during an outside investigation, and sent the letter through a lawyer because the coaches decide their playing time and scholarships. [38] The team starts its season on Friday with the same coaches in place. [38]
15
Tennis Australia will run a golf event

Tennis Australia, which runs the Australian Open, will run tickets, food, shops and sponsorship for golf's 2028 Presidents Cup in Melbourne. [39] The PGA Tour, the main US men's golf tour, owns the event and has never handed so much of it to an outside group. [39] The match between American golfers and an International team will be played at Kingston Heath late in 2028. [39] More than 300,000 people went to this year's Australian Open. [39]

Why it matters — All of the PGA Tour's own staff and systems are in the US, so it is hiring a local operator instead of building one in Australia. [39] The 2028 Presidents Cup is the first project for a new events company set up by Tennis Australia. [39]
16
Eala one win from an Asian Games medal

Alex Eala, the Philippines' best-known tennis player, beat Thailand's Patcharin Cheapchandej 6-1, 6-0 on Monday at the Asian Games in Japan. [40] The win put Eala, 21 and ranked 18th in the world, into the quarter-finals. [40] She plays Joanna Garland of Chinese Taipei next. [40]

Why it matters — One more win would guarantee her at least a bronze medal, and three more would bring gold. [40]

02 Lesson why it matters

Why college sport asked for one national rule instead of fifty state ones

When each US state and court can set its own rules, a business that works across all of them asks Congress for one rule above them all.

The twist

The NCAA did not need to win its argument in every state and every court. It needed one national law, and that one law would cover every state at once.

The picture

Third Circuit courtnational rule wins

Sixth and Ninth Circuitsstate laws win

Three US appeals courts have ruled on Kalshi's contracts and split two ways. Until the US Supreme Court decides, the same contract is allowed in some states and blocked in others.

How it works

Each state, and each court, can set its own rules for college sport
A body that runs sport in every state has to obey all of those rules at once
So the NCAA asks Congress for one national rule
A national law beats state law, but only where its words say so clearly
Where that is unclear, courts split and the US Supreme Court has to decide

The same force, elsewhere today

Where this chain is also running, in today's other stories.

Kalshi loses in a US appeals court

Kalshi said the national rules for financial contracts beat Ohio's and Tennessee's gambling laws. The court said the national law does not say that clearly, so the states' laws still apply.
Brazil bans online betting

One national decision closed online betting across the whole country at once. Flutter expects to lose about $70m this year because of it.
Leicestershire get eight points back

The panel wanted a smaller penalty, but an automatic rule set above it had already taken 19 points. The panel had no power to change that rule.

Where you've seen this

Phone chargers in Europe

the European Union set one charger rule for all its member countries, so phone makers build one plug instead of many

Car exhaust rules in the US

California sets stricter limits than the national ones, and for decades carmakers and the national government have argued over whether it may

School exams

when a country sets one national exam, a choice made by one exam board reaches every pupil in every school at once

The catch

A national rule only wins where its words say so clearly. The Sixth Circuit ruled against Kalshi for that reason. The US Senate also narrowed its own bill so athletes can still sue under state law over sexual misconduct or a wrongful death.

And the whole of it

Most people live under several layers of rules at once, from a town up to a country, and rarely notice which one is deciding. In the last four days two of them moved for people in Ohio: the US Senate voted on college sport's rules, and a court decided how far Ohio's own gambling laws reach.

03 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

After years of losing in court, the NCAA, which runs US college sport, got the US Senate to pass a law that would let it cap athletes' pay without being sued. [1][3][4] The bill puts no cap on coaches, and the 15 best-paid college football coaches each earn more than $10m a year. [1][8]

Why it works on us — The bill is called the Protect College Sports Act and its biggest outside backer is a group called Saving College Sports, so a limit on what athletes can earn arrives described as a rescue. [3]

Who gains

The NCAA and the college conferences — The bill would shield their limits on pay, transfers and recruiting from federal lawsuits, after more than $10m spent lobbying for it. [3][4]
The Big Ten and the SEC, the two richest conferences — They lobbied in August for the higher pay limit, which matches what the richest couple of dozen football teams already spend. ESPN says other teams will struggle to keep up. [1][5]
Ohio and Tennessee — The Sixth Circuit ruling lets them keep applying their gambling laws to Kalshi's sports contracts. [19][20]
The Minnesota Vikings — They no longer owe McCarthy his guaranteed pay of $2.7m this year and $3.7m next year, and they get a fifth-round pick. [15]
NBC — It has every game of the playoffs' first round, after its Sunday night baseball drew its biggest audience since 2007. [34]

Who pays

Athletes at the richest college programmes — Their pay would be capped by law and they would get one free transfer, with no union to bargain for them. [1][8]
Players on the Ladies European Tour — They lose five Saudi-funded events worth $15m on a tour where most events pay $500,000 or less. [25]
Flutter's shareholders — The share price fell 7.9% on Monday after Brazil's ban, and is down more than 60% this year. [21]
Leicestershire — An automatic 19-point loss that the panel said it could not change leaves the club facing relegation unless its appeal wins. [32]
Arizona State's ice hockey players — They start the season on Friday under the same coaches whose account of the workout they dispute. [38]
Brian Dawkins — His tackles appear in a government video he says he never agreed to. [37]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

Whether the House passes the bill before 3 January.

The House is on recess until 9 November, Speaker Mike Johnson's office did not comment, and any change sends the bill back to the US Senate. [1][3][4]
02

Whether college athletes will ever be treated as employees.

The US Senate bill says nothing either way, while some House Republicans want it to rule employee status out. [1][7]
03

Whether a $49m limit will hold at the richest schools.

About 30 football teams already pay players $30m or more, over this year's $21.5m limit, and the bill does not require anyone to spend less. [5]
04

How much money FIFA really has to hand out.

UEFA and CONCACAF put FIFA's reserves at about $6bn by the end of 2026, the BBC reports an estimated 4.4bn pounds, and AP says at least $5bn; they count at different dates and in different currencies. [10][13][14]
05

Whether Dan Wilson was fired or chose to leave the Mariners.

Front Office Sports says Seattle fired him, while CBS Sports says he told the club he would not return. [30][31]
06

When Manchester City's punishment will be set.

The BBC says a sanction hearing could be months away, and a source told Reuters the case will drag on. [24][22]
07

Whether the US Supreme Court takes up Kalshi's case.

It is already weighing the Third Circuit ruling, and Friday's Sixth Circuit decision widened the split between courts. [19]
08

Whether Brazil's betting ban survives.

It is expected to face legal challenges, and one advisory firm expects it to be overturned, but not soon. [21]
09

What happened at Arizona State's August workout.

The players' letter disputes the university's own review, which named no one as responsible, and the university had not answered Front Office Sports. [38]

04 Hope carry this

Pio and Sebastiano Esposito both started for Italy in Monday's 4-1 win over Turkey, the first brothers to start a game for Italy together since 1915. With their older brother Salvatore, they are the first three brothers to play for Italy's senior team.

Also true today

English cricket's regulator raised a mistake in its own case against Leicestershire, and on Monday the club got eight of its 27 lost points back.
Aaron Judge took live at-bats on Monday for the first time since straining his calf on 16 September, and hit a home run off the last pitch he saw in batting practice.
Alex Eala of the Philippines won 6-1, 6-0 to reach the Asian Games quarter-finals, one win from a medal.