U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has filed an amendment to a sweeping college sports bill that would prohibit student athletes from entering name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements that promote marijuana.
The amendment, Senate Amendment 6816, was submitted September 22 to S. 4668, the Protect College Sports Act of 2026.
Under Scott’s proposal, colleges, athletic conferences, intercollegiate athletic associations, affiliated entities, collectives and other third parties would be prohibited from entering NIL agreements with individual athletes or groups of athletes if the deals promote marijuana.
The same restriction would apply to NIL agreements promoting gambling, tobacco or nicotine products, alcoholic beverages and sexually explicit commercial products or services.
The provision would be added to Section 101 of the broader legislation, which establishes federal protections and rules governing how college athletes may earn money from their names, images and likenesses.
Scott’s amendment would not prohibit athletes from using marijuana or broadly prevent them from earning NIL compensation. Instead, it specifically targets agreements in which an athlete is paid to promote marijuana or the other listed products and services.
The Protect College Sports Act would establish a nationwide framework for college athletics that includes NIL protections, scholarship and healthcare requirements, rules governing sports agents and provisions regulating compensation and transfers.
On Thursday, the Senate voted 77-23 to approve a bipartisan substitute amendment sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), among others. Senators then voted 74-25 to advance the amended bill toward final passage.
The Senate is scheduled to vote on final passage of the Protect College Sports Act on Monday, September 28. Scott’s marijuana-related NIL restriction would need to be adopted before becoming part of the legislation.
