As lawmakers in Washington debated the future of college athletics this week, a separate conversation unfolding hundreds of miles away in South Bend illustrated precisely why many believe federal intervention has become unavoidable.

While the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee considered legislation designed to bring order to an increasingly chaotic landscape, industry figures speaking to The Athletic suggested that likely national championship contender Notre Dame may now be operating with a football roster worth as much as $40m or more.

The juxtaposition highlighted the scale of change that has swept through college football since the arrival of NIL opportunities, transfer portal freedom and revenue sharing. Appearing before senators on Wednesday, former Nick Saban joined Pete Bevacqua, Gordon Gee, Teresa Gould and Lance Holtzclaw in discussing the proposed Protect College Sports Act of 2026. The bipartisan bill, co-sponsored by Ted Cruz, Maria Cantwell, Eric Schmitt and Chris Coons, seeks to establish greater stability across college athletics through measures including a limited antitrust exemption, athlete protections and the codification of revenue-sharing frameworks.

“This is a moment where we can come together,” Cruz said. “[Cantwell] and I have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours, negotiating this bill. … I have thought at multiple times we were never going to get there.”

Cantwell added that the group was agreed that ‘college sports is in crisis, and the system is unsustainable’ as spending continues to escalate. According to multiple general managers surveyed by The Athletic, Notre Dame’s current roster could place Marcus Freeman’s programme among the biggest spenders in the nation, alongside schools such as LSU, Texas, Miami, Texas A&M and Oregon. One Group of Five general manager openly described Notre Dame as ‘a big-time spender’, while another credited Freeman and Bevacqua for embracing the financial realities of modern roster construction.

The figures underline how dramatically the market has shifted. General managers told The Athletic that elite five-star prospects at premium positions now routinely command seven-figure packages before playing a collegiate snap, while top quarterbacks can earn several million dollars annually. Notre Dame’s recent recruiting successes, including securing commitments from highly-rated prospects such as Rodney Dunham, Joey O’Brien, Khary Adams, David Folorunsho and Olu Olubobola, have reinforced perceptions that the Irish are competing aggressively in that marketplace. Former Clemson coach Dabo Swinney recently joked that Notre Dame must have ‘a money machine in the backyard or something’, reflecting a broader belief that the Irish have transformed their approach to player acquisition and retention.

Whether Congress can slow or regulate those forces remains uncertain. The legislation already faces opposition from both the Big Ten and SEC, which argued in a joint statement that the bill, as drafted, fails to resolve key issues and could create additional legal challenges. Yet supporters contend that action is necessary if college athletics is to avoid becoming increasingly concentrated among a handful of wealthy programmes.

“This is a major milestone to have this bipartisan support to do something for college sports, and I think this bill is an enormous step in the right direction,” Bevacqua told lawmakers.