President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday, July 24 that attempts to create a national standard for NCAA name, image and likeness programs.
The order is Trump’s latest entry into a debate that has embroiled the NCAA since NIL rules went into effect in 2021, ushering in a wild-west era of college sports that has come under increasing scrutiny by local and national legislators.
Broadly focused on efforts to “save college athletics,” a fact sheet sent out by the White House says the order also seeks to preserve and support ‘expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports.’ Most of the NIL money is given to athletes in football and men’s and women’s basketball.
The settlement in the long-running House v. NCAA case went into effect July 1 and allowed schools to directly pay college athletes through a revenue-sharing model.
Trump’s order says, in part, ‘it is the policy of the executive branch that third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes are improper and should not be permitted by universities. This policy does not apply to compensation provided to an athlete for the fair market value that the athlete provides to a third party, such as for a brand endorsement.’
There has been considerable debate since the House legal settlement took effect about the role that collectives can have in providing NIL compensation for athletes, and how to assess those deals in terms of market value.
In May, Trump appeared poised to create a commission co-chaired by former Alabama coach Nick Saban and influential Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell with a directive to explore and address major issues facing college sports. But there have been no announcements regarding that directive.
This week, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at restructuring rules around the administration of college athletics passed two committees and is expected to move to the House floor when the summer recess is over in September.
Speaking at a National Press Club event in Washington earlier the day, before the order was signed, NCAA President Charlie Baker was asked about possible executive order on college sports. He said he was open to ideas, but “our focus needs to be on the legislative process.”
The leaders of three House committees issued a statement lauding the order, but indicating that they plan to move forward with the legislation. While Trump’s order directs various cabinet secretaries to work on various issues, the bill, for example, has antitrust-exemption language that specifically would allow the NCAA, and potentially the new College Sports Commission, to make operational rules affecting schools and athletes in areas that have come into legal dispute in recent years. That would include rules about transfers and the number of seasons for which athletes can compete.
“We thank President Trump for his commitment to supporting student-athletes and strengthening college athletics in the NIL era,’ read the statement from Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee; Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who chairs the Education and Workforce Committee; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the the Judiciary Committee. ‘The SCORE Act, led by our three committees, will complement the President’s executive order, and we look forward to working with all of our colleagues in Congress to build a stronger and more durable college sports environment.”
The order states that athletics departments with more than $125 million in revenue in 2024-25 ‘should provide more scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports than during the 2024-2025 athletic season and should provide the maximum number of roster spots for non-revenue sports permitted under the applicable collegiate athletic rules.’
Departments with revenue of more than $50 million in 2024-25 should provide at least as many scholarships in non-revenue sports as they did in 2024-25 and should provide the maximum numnber of roster spots for non-revenue sports.
Departments with $50 million or less in 2024-25 ‘should not disproportionately reduce scholarship opportunities or roster spots for sports based on the revenue that the sport generates.’
Under the House settlement, the NCAA’s sport-by-sport scholarship limits were replaced by sport-by-sport roster limits. Many top-revenue schools have been planning to add scholarships in a variety of sports. They also have been dealing with the prospect of having to cut athletes because of the roster limits.
The order directs the Education Secretary, ‘in consultation with’ the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission chair to advance the order’s policies.
It also directs the Labor Secretary and the National Labor Relations Board to ‘determine and implement the appropriate measures with respect to clarifying the status of collegiate athletes’. The House bill would prevent college athletes from being employees of their school, conferences or athletic associations.
However, backers of the House bill already had been struggling to find support from Democrats, several of whom criticized the measure after it passed the two commitees on July 23. And that task didn’t get any easier on July 24, when Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was involved in the re-introduction of two bills. Along with Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., he announced a bill that would help athletes with NIL deals in a variety of ways, including making easier for foreign athletes to make NIL deals in the United States.
Later in the day — but before Trump’s order — Murphy unveiled an effort with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that would make athletes school employees under the National Labor Relations Act and give them the right to organize and collectively bargain. That announcement carried a headline that began: ‘As Trump, Congressional Republicans Side With NCAA Bosses …’
Murphy’s announcement said this effort had the backing of eight House Democrats and multiple labor unions, including major pro sports players’ associations.
(This story was updated with new information.)