Legislation that complements President Trump’s executive order on name, image and likeness in college sports is advancing to the Senate floor.

The Protect College Sports Act, sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, and Maria Cantwell, Washington Democrat, cleared the Senate Commerce Committee, of which they are chairman and ranking member.

The bill would codify NIL rights into law, implementing the first federal standard for college athletics that replaces state frameworks.

Under the bill, co-written by Sens. Eric Schmitt, Missouri Republican, and Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, a five-year eligibility window would begin at 19 years old, high school graduation or full-time enrollment.

It guarantees athletes who want to make their first transfer can do so without losing eligibility. But if they want to transfer a second time, they would have to sit out a year, with exceptions.

Student-athletes’ agent fees would be capped at 5%, and they would have a private right of action to sue schools over NIL rights, scholarship protection, and health and safety standards.

It also lets athletic conferences voluntarily pool and jointly negotiate their media rights and bans the formation of a super conference. Hence, it blocks any potential breakaway league from the two wealthiest NCAA conferences, the SEC and Big Ten.

It gives the NCAA authority to enforce such regulations via an antitrust exemption.

Over 20 college conferences, the NFL, the NFL Players Association, and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee have backed the legislation.

The Big Ten and SEC released a joint statement against the bill, stating that despite “sustained engagement and good faith efforts,” their “essential revisions” had not been accepted.

“We have worked with both majority and minority staff to advance those revisions, which focus on better supporting student-athletes and stabilizing the college sports environment,” it reads. “We continue to believe revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.”

Two Republicans, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Florida Rep. Greg Steube, have introduced a competing bill: the Student Athlete Act.

Mr. Tuberville, the former football coach at Auburn University, labeled the Protect College Sports Act a “federal takeover of college sports.”

“Two weeks ago, my colleagues here rolled out a bipartisan bill that aims to fix some of these problems,” he said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “I respect the work that they put into it. I know it all too well. I know they’re trying to solve a serious and very, very hard problem. It’s almost impossible. But I think their bill goes too far.”

Mr. Cruz said that while he would support the Tuberville-Steube bill, “no Democrat would support it, so it does not have a path to pass it.”

The Protect College Sports Act’s sponsors are pushing to get it to President Trump’s desk this summer after he urged Congress to pass it.

It faces significant hurdles. It needs 60 votes to clear the Senate and faces a time crunch before the August recess — besides running into the SEC-Big Ten gantlet.

The Trump administration has made federal NIL reform a priority, as the president’s April executive order set an Aug. 1 deadline for the NCAA to overhaul its rules.

Mr. Cruz urged Congress to pass the bill, arguing that the cost of failure will be measured in student-athletes’ opportunities.

“We can sit in the stands and watch the system continue to unravel, or we can step onto the field and lead. I believe the moment calls for leadership,” he said. “No more punting. We are in four-down territory. Time to go for it.”