NEWS: White House Releases Executive Order on Collegiate Athletics

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On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled "Saving College Sports," with the stated aim of eliminating the "third-party market of pay-for-play inducements". The order leaves room for brand endorsement deals for a "fair market value".

There is no clear definition of "fair market value" outlined in the executive order. However, the College Sports Commission (CSC), which was founded in response to the NCAA vs the House settlement that permitted revenue sharing between athletes and universities, created the NIL Go Portal last month in conjunction with global accounting firm, Deloitte.

The new NIL Go Portal will evaluate third-party name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals based on the relationship between the university and the payor, the validity of the business goals of the entity providing payment, and the amount of compensation the athlete is given compared to their calculated NIL value.

If a deal is not cleared by the CSC, the parties are required to either revise the deal, cancel it, or appeal the decision. Ultimately, the goals of the CSC are largely in alignment with the guidance from the recent executive order.

The executive order also directs schools with a revenue greater than $125,000,000 during the 2024-25 academic year to increase scholarships to non-revenue sport athletes. It further states that schools with revenue above $50,000,000 in the same period should not decrease non-revenue scholarship opportunities. Per ESPN's Dan Murphy, most Power Four schools are above the $50,000,000 threshold while roughly 30 to 40 school have amassed revenues above $125,000,000.

The order also urges Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, along with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), to clarify the employment status of student-athletes. The NCAA does not currently recognize student-athletes as employees, although there is growing legal momentum to challenge that. In 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that, "it is factually possible for a Division I student-athlete to be an employee under the [Fair Labor Standards Act]".

Student-athletes would not be considered employees under the recently proposed Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act. That bill will be voted on in the House of Representatives later this fall.