President Donald Trump Issues Executive Order Designed to Save College Sports

STILLWATER – United States President Donald Trump, a huge sports fan and a former professional sports owner, had threatened earlier this year to form a commission to examine what would be best for major college athletics in this country. The House vs. NCAA class-action suit was settled and it appeared that there was movement to bring the “wild west” of seemingly unlimited payments from collective and boosters, tampering by schools using money from collectives and boosters, and a climate that could destroy any possibility of competitive balance would have new guardrails. This week that was shot down with a severe warning from attorneys for the plaintiff House in directing a change in the instructions for the College Sports Commission to allow collectives to do what they’ve been doing. In other words, pay-for-play labeled as NIL could continue. 

Mid Thursday afternoon, July 24, President Donald Trump singed an executive order aimed at addressing NIL and the problems that false NIL has and could continue to create in college athletics. 

In the words of the White House, “President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to protect student-athletes and collegiate athletic scholarships and opportunities, including in Olympic and non-revenue programs, and the unique American institution of college sports.”

Okay, so what does the Preisdential Executive Order do? Again, the words of the White House.

A - The Order requires the preservation and, where possible, expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports.

B - The Order prohibits third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes.  This does not apply to legitimate, fair-market-value compensation that a third party provides to an athlete, such as for a brand endorsement.

C - The Order provides that any revenue-sharing permitted between universities and collegiate athletes should be implemented in a manner that protects women’s and non-revenue sports.

D - The Order directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of student-athletes in order to preserve non-revenue sports and the irreplaceable educational and developmental opportunities that college sports provide.

E - The Order directs the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission to take appropriate actions to protect student-athletes’ rights and safeguard the long-term stability of college athletics from endless, debilitating antitrust and other legal challenges.

F - The Order directs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison to consult with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and other organizations to protect the role of college athletics in developing world-class American athletes.

Here is my opinion or translation of what each will do.

ESPN

The President congratulates Wyatt Hendrickson.

A - It is clear that the President doesn’t want college sports to be all about football or even football and basketball. The President was there to see Oklahoma State’s Wyatt Hendrickson win the NCAA and loved watching one of his own soldiers (second lieutenant in the Air Force) win in a huge upset. He is going to protect all of sports.

B - This just reinforces what the CSC was going to police. NIL, in the future, has to be NIL and not pay-for-play. I feel this is the most important piece of the Executive Order.

C - See A, The President is trying to protect all of college athletics.

D - He is working to keep college athletes student and not employees and looking for his cabinet and others to find solutions to keep it that way.

E - This will be especially enticing to the NCAA, this could be protection without actually getting antitrust exemption.

F - A protection of all Olympic sports so college athletics can continue to be a strong feeder system to the Olympic movement in our nation. 

The biggest question in this is what all of it does to the major moneymaker for all of college athletics and that’s major college football.