President Trump on Thursday waded into the debate on payment for college athletes with an executive order that prohibits “pay-for-play” arrangements.
Trump signed an order that bans third-party payments to college athletes, though not compensation they can get for deals such as brand endorsements.
The order also directs the secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to protect nonrevenue sports, and it instructs 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.”
The college sports landscape has been drastically altered in recent years as schools spend millions of dollars on players to lure them as recruits or as transfers, particularly for football and men’s basketball. Since 2021, college athletes have been able to profit off of their name, image and likeness (NIL).
But a patchwork of university policies and state laws have formed the regulations around NIL deals, leading to a call from some stakeholders for federal action to create one set of standards.
“It is the policy of my Administration that all college sports should be preserved and, where possible, expanded,” Trump’s executive order states. “My Administration will therefore provide the stability, fairness, and balance necessary to protect student-athletes, collegiate athletic scholarships and opportunities, and the special American institution of college sports.”
A House subcommittee earlier this month passed a bill that would establish a national standard for NIL sponsorships.
Trump has taken an interest in multiple matters related to sports during his second term, recently reiterating his call for the Washington Commanders to change their name back to the Redskins.
Within weeks of taking office, he signed an executive order following through on a pledge to ban transgender women from competing in men’s sports.
Trump has hosted championship hockey and baseball teams at the White House. He has also attended the Daytona 500, the Super Bowl, college wrestling championships, Ultimate Fighting Championship events and the FIFA Club World Cup championship.
