United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will directly affect college players’ earnings via the NIL program.
The President signed the order titled “President Donald J. Trump Saves College Sports” this Thursday, calling for “guardrails” concerning pay-for-play NIL payments and for clarity regarding the fact that students are not employees.
He also suggested new rules for scholarships based on athletic spending.
The NCAA wasted little time responding to the signing of the order. President Charlie Baker issued a statement noting “threats” being faced by college sports, though he credited the Trump administration’s work to level the playing field.
“The NCAA is making positive changes for student-athletes and confronting many challenges facing college sports by mandating health and wellness benefits and guaranteeing scholarships, but there are some threats to college sports that federal legislation can effectively address and the Association is advocating with student-athletes and their schools for a bipartisan solution with Congress and the Administration,” he said.
“The Association appreciates the Trump Administration’s focus on the life-changing opportunities college sports provides millions of young people and we look forward to working with student-athletes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress and the Trump Administration to enhance college sports for years to come.”
The Autonomous 5 conferences also responded to the decision, voicing appreciation for Trump’s desire to protect college sports.
“We appreciate President Trump’s commitment to protecting the future of college athletics,” the conferences said in a joint statement. “This executive order builds on the momentum created by the bipartisan SCORE Act, which will provide long-term stability to college sports and expand resources to support the overall well-being of student-athletes.
“With the House settlement now in effect, student-athletes have more financial and academic support than ever before. Now, attention turns to preserving these monumental gains by passing a federal law with national standards for student-athletes’ NIL rights. We hope Congress sends federal legislation to President Trump’s desk as soon as possible.”
The order prohibits pay-for-play payments by third parties but “does not apply to legitimate, fair-market-value compensation that a third party provides to an athlete, such as for a brand endorsement.”
At this time, the entity that will have the power to enforce the prevention included in the order is unknown.
The order also notes that any revenue-sharing between schools and athletes should be implemented in a way that will protect women’s and non-revenue athletics.
It demands that the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board clarify the status of student-athletes to preserve non-revenue sports and the educational and developmental opportunities provided in college sports, which are “irreplaceable.”
Donald Trump’s new executive order seems to have been drafted with two major issues in mind: the pay-to-play for college athletes beyond legitimate NIL deals, and the protection of non-revenue sports, which could be under threat of being taken away to accommodate sports that generate revenue, such as football and basketball.
