Story bychrisbeasmoreThu, December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM UTC·2 min readThe federal legislation Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart hoped would stabilize the future of college sports is now dead for the moment. The SCORE Act, once viewed as the most viable path toward national regulation of NIL, revenue sharing, and athlete protections, was pulled from the U. S. House floor just hours before a scheduled vote after support collapsed on both sides of the aisle. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBack in September, Barnhart sent a passionate letter to fans urging them to push Congress to pass the bill. He described the SCORE Act as “critical to the stability of college athletics,” arguing that a national framework was the only way to preserve competitive balance, protect Olympic and women’s sports, and ensure athletes remain students and not employees.