Few things are bipartisan anymore, but on Monday, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly agreed on a college athletics makeover.

More money for student-athletes. Less money for agents. Fewer player transfers. Limits on conference realignment. Protections for the non-revenue Olympic sports that now exist — precariously — under the inescapable shadow of football.

Would it all affect college sports in Idaho? Absolutely.

And should you care about all of that, even if you don’t care about college sports? Also, absolutely.

An athletic program isn’t an entity unto itself. Increasingly, colleges and universities are looking to athletics as a revenue generator. This isn’t new: athletic success has long equated to increases in applications, enrollment and donor support. Now, colleges and universities want to use their athletic facilities to rake in revenue, and not just on game day. They want their facilities to bring in concerts and corporate retreats and support lucrative on-campus development.

That long game hinges on staying competitive on turf and hardwood. Which puts college athletics in the unnatural position of hoping Congress will come to the rescue.

“We’re living insanity, and the fact that the federal government’s having to get involved at all, I think, tells that story,” Boise State University athletic director Jeramiah Dickey told EdNews Thursday.

What happened in Congress, and what happens next

Monday’s 77-22 Senate vote was noteworthy — especially considering how much the sponsors crammed into the Protect College Sports Act. Far from a do-nothing bill, it tries to solve all of college sports’ problems in one shot.

One big change: The bill will allow a college to pay its student-athletes up to $49 million a year, shattering the current $21 million “revenue sharing” cap. That higher cap would apply to everyone — but practically speaking, it may only be an issue in the NCAA’s so-called “Power Four” conferences, the Big Ten, the Southeastern Conference, the Big XII and the Atlantic Coast Conference.

University of Idaho athletic director Terry Gawlik doesn’t expect to see her Big Sky Conference brethren bumping up against a $49 million cap. “They can make the cap as high as they want it for the Power Four, but we’re never going to get to that level of paying student athletes,” she said this week. “So that’s not something that affects us daily.”

But the $49 million cap could affect Boise State. The Broncos made the first 12-team College Football Playoff two years ago and are contenders again this year — and landing in the CFP will pit Boise State against big-money programs that could push up to the salary cap. (Boise State paid its student-athletes $10 million last budget year.)

Dickey said he’s “not a huge fan” of the $49 million cap, but he’s glad to see the bill set some kind of maximum.

Both Gawlik and Dickey like another key piece of the bill. It would allow student-athletes to transfer once in their college careers — and force repeat transfers to sit out a season. The limits on transfers will restore stability in the locker room, Gawlik said. In a related vein, Dickey likes the limited, five-year window for athletes to complete their playing careers. “This is a chapter,” he said. “This is not forever.”

The bill also sidesteps a political minefield: state laws restricting transgender athletes. As Politico reported last month, co-sponsor Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, inserted language clarifying that the federal law would not supersede state bans on transgender athletes. For Gov. Brad Little, who signed the nation’s first transgender athletics ban into law in 2020, that’s a non-negotiable, spokeswoman Emily Callihan said this week. “Gov. Little remains strongly committed to defending women’s sports,” she said.

What happens next to this bill, and all its pieces, is anyone’s guess. The House still must pass it, and the House is on recess until after the November election. If this bill doesn’t pass during a post-election lame-duck session, the process begins all over again in 2027.

Does that open the door to some of the things bill sponsors are trying to prevent — such as another last-minute flurry of conference realignment, which could change the map for Idaho’s universities?

“If it doesn’t pass (this year), then it could be chaos even more than what we’re seeing now,” Gawlik said.

What’s happening in Idaho

Meanwhile, outside the spotlight of Capitol Hill, a gubernatorial task force is quietly studying collegiate sports in Idaho.

There isn’t much we know about Little’s working group other than its roster, which includes Senate Majority Leader Lori Den Hartog and House Majority Leader Jason Monks, both R-Meridian; State Board of Education President Kurt Liebich; and foundation representatives from four colleges and universities. Idaho Falls businessman Cortney Liddiard is chairing the group.

Little announced the working group in June, and since then, it’s been crickets. In July, Callihan said the group’s meetings “are not open to the public.” A group report, originally expected in September, should now arrive by the end of October. But no one is talking about details.

“I don’t want to jump the gun on anything,” Monks said in a text this week.

“The group is actively monitoring the federal legislation and considering how those changes may intersect with their recommendations,” Callihan said in an email.

Dickey and Gawlik have spoken to the working group. Dickey credits Little, and the group, for recognizing the urgency of the situation.

“Early on, it felt like it was just maybe us in this foxhole,” he said. “I’m really grateful that this group has stepped into a very uncomfortable space.”

Gawlik said the group members are “asking some good questions” about the future of collegiate sports in Idaho. And, she hopes, they’re getting an education into the budget pressures facing athletics programs — from facilities costs to coaches and staffs to revenue sharing.

“At Idaho, we don’t have a program that pays for itself,” she said. “Not one.”

Budget realities — and the race to raise revenues

During their August meeting, State Board members got a sobering look at the budget realities of big-time college athletics. Boise State athletics ended 2025-26 nearly $2 million in the red, Dickey told the board, and the shortfall could climb to $18 million this year. The university will use reserves to fill the gap — driven by revenue sharing, but also by a legal settlement between Boise State and other former Mountain West Conference schools, which defected to a remade Pac-12 Conference.

The budget picture would have been even more grim, if Boise State hadn’t collected a $15.6 million windfall in revenues in 2024-25 — a surge from the Broncos’ CFP berth and a June 2025 Post Malone concert at Albertsons Stadium.

It isn’t just athletic success that fills the coffers. It’s big-name concerts. It’s the Banana Ball baseball barnstorming tour, which hit Albertsons Stadium this summer. It’s events that put the football and basketball venues to work on non-game days. As athletic programs face rising costs — and all colleges and universities compete for a shrinking number of 18- to 22-year-old applicants — the pressure to land events will only intensify.

Here as well, the playing field isn’t level. Gawlik notes that one of her Big Sky rivals, the University of Montana, has an interstate running through town. This makes it easier for concertgoers to travel to Missoula, Montana — and easier for the UM to land stadium-caliber performers.

As college athletics changes, colleges and universities are rethinking the way they view their athletic venues.

The controversial $70 million North End Zone project at Albertsons Stadium is designed to house community events year-round. The U of I rents out its ICCU Arena for summer events.

“Everybody is looking for a way to monetize their facilities,” Gawlik said. “As you should, right? Why do you want them to sit empty?”

Colleges and universities are also viewing their athletic venues much like a mall views an anchor tenant — a draw that brings in the traffic and supports other business. Boise State President David Hahn spelled that out last week, as he touted an “east campus project” that could include a hotel, housing, restaurants and retail. The anchor tenant: the adjacent Albertsons Stadium.

But a stadium — and the team playing there — is only a strong magnet if college athletics is sustainable. So it’s no surprise that, on Monday, Hahn joined his fellow Idaho university presidents in praising the Senate’s vote on the Protect College Sports Act. “Athletics has helped attract students, inspire philanthropy, advance our academic and research mission, and unite Idahoans around a shared sense of pride,” Hahn said.

And it’s no surprise that college presidents and athletic directors are looking for help anywhere they think they can get it — including the political arena. In the fever-dream frenzy of the collegiate sports landscape, that’s actually one predictable outcome.

Senior reporter Kevin Richert writes a weekly analysis on education policy and education politics.