Trump Signs EO On College Sports: But What Does It Mean?
The order demands that larger universities with massive athletic departments maintain a certain number of scholarships for less lucrative sports. The hope is that this executive order will help quell the massive influx of money for schools to attract big names under the recently created name, image, and likeness deals — known as NIL.
'The future of college sports is under unprecedented threat,' the order says, NPR reports. 'A national solution is urgently needed to prevent this situation from deteriorating beyond repair and to protect non-revenue sports, including many women's sports, that comprise the backbone of intercollegiate athletics, drive American superiority at the Olympics and other international competitions, and catalyze hundreds of thousands of student-athletes to fuel American success in myriad ways.'
Here's the problem: An executive order is not the law. Think of it as a sternly worded email from the CEO of a company. Yes, it means something, but what really? There is no guarantee that the order will be made a law, but many legal experts believe that it does shine a light on the president's growing interest in sticking his nose in matters that don't concern him.
'This may not be a binding legal framework — but it's absolutely a signal: that the federal government, and now presidential politics, are increasingly willing to intervene in the future of college sports,' Noah Henderson, a professor of sports management at Loyola University Chicago, told NPR.
Trump's order comes just one month after a class action settlement called House v. NCAA allowed Division I college athletic departments to pay players directly.
'Absent guardrails to stop the madness and ensure a reasonable, balanced use of resources across collegiate athletic programs that preserves their educational and developmental benefits, many college sports will soon cease to exist,' the order reads.
Many believed that the president was planning on creating a college sports commission to sort through some of the more difficult issues facing college sports, (like is all of the player money coming from the universities?) But Trump's order chose to try and add 'guardrails' to 'an out-of-control, rudderless system in which competing university donors engage in bidding wars for the best players, who can change teams each season,' the order reads.
From AP News:
There has been a dramatic increase in money flowing into and around college athletics, and a sense of chaos. Key court victories won by athletes angry that they were barred for decades from earning income based on their celebrity and from sharing in the billions of revenue they helped generate have gutted the amateurism model long at the heart of college sports.
Facing a growing number of state laws undercutting its authority, the NCAA in July 2021 cleared the way for athletes to cash in with NIL deals with brands and sponsors — deals now worth millions. That came mere days after a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court that found the NCAA cannot impose caps on education-related benefits schools provide to their athletes because such limits violate antitrust law.
The NCAA's embrace of NIL deals set the stage for another massive change that took effect July 1: The ability of schools to begin paying millions of dollars to their own athletes, up to $20.5 million per school over the next year. The $2.8 billion House settlement shifts even more power to athletes, who have also won the ability to transfer from school to school without waiting to play.
'We've gotten to the point where government is involved,' Purdue coach Barry Odom said when asked about the Trump order, AP reports. 'Obviously, there's belief it needs to be involved. We'll get it all worked out. The game's been around for a hundred years and it's going to be around 100 more.'
Trump Signed An Executive Order On College Sports, But What Does It Mean? was originally published on cassiuslife.com
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
3 minutes ago
Trump admin live updates: Trump, Schumer trade barbs over Senate nominations
The Senate voted on some of Trump's nominations before the August recess. 2:17 The Senate on Saturday considered some of President Donald Trump's nominations before the August recess. Earlier this week, Trump issued an executive order slapping tariffs on many of America's trading partners but the new duties are set to go into effect in seven days. Trump also continues to face questions over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his relationship with the accused sex trafficker. Latest headlines: 3 minutes ago Johnson makes last-minute visit to Israel 57 minutes ago Greer suggests Aug. 12 tariff deadline for China could slide 1 hour and 37 minutes ago Texas state House set to consider new congressional maps on Monday Here's how the news is developing. 46 Updates Jul 28, 2025, 10:00 AM EDT Trump says he is 'allowed' to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, but it's 'inappropriate' to discuss When asked by reporters if he would pardon Ghislaine Maxwell -- the convicted associate of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein -- President Donald Trump said he is "allowed to give her a pardon" but "nobody's approached me with it." "Nobody's asked me about it. Right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it," Trump said on Monday. He said he hasn't been "overly interested" in the Epstein files, and called the 'whole thing a hoax' in regard to whether his name is in the files. Jul 28, 2025, 9:56 AM EDT Starmer says he has a 'very good relationship' with Trump British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he has a "very good personal relationship" with President Donald Trump, emphasizing that the United Kingdom and the United States have "always stood together." In terms of best interests for the two countries, Starmer added that he and Trump have a "huge amount of common ground." Trump says he is 'not interested in talking' to Putin President Donald Trump said he has "always gotten along" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but on Monday, he said he is "not interested in talking" to him. "Russia could be so rich right now. But instead, they spend everything on war. I really thought this was going to end. Every time I think it's going to end, he kills people," Trump said. Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would reduce the 50-day window for Russia to agree to a peace deal with Ukraine. Jul 28, 2025, 9:37 AM EDT Trump says Powell 'has to' cut interest rates While meeting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Donald Trump said Fed Chair Jerome Powell "has to" cut interest rates. "He should cut. A smart person should cut," Trump said. This comes after Trump visited the Federal Reserve on Thursday, repeating calls for lower interest rates while standing alongside Powell.
New York Post
4 minutes ago
- New York Post
Hochul warns that ‘pathetic' Stefanik is just Trump lemming
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday blasted 'pathetic' GOP potential election foe Elise Stefanik as someone who would give President Trump nearly unfettered power over the state if governor. Hochul, a Democrat, warned that the president, who grew up in New York, has his sights set on helping a Republican become governor. 'If a Republican gets elected as governor against me, think about the power that Donald Trump will have over everything in the state, including the city,' Hochul warned on ABC 7's 'Up Close with Bill Ritter. 'That's what should give people great pause,' she said. The governor seemed amused that Trump appeared to intervene in New York GOP politics to encourage Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) not to run against her. 4 Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday argued that her expected GOP rival will be a puppet for President Trump. Hans Pennink 4 Upstate GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik has been a fierce critic of Hochul's performance. Getty Images She also swiped at Stefanik, an upstate congresswoman who is widely expected to throw her hat into the 2026 gubernatorial ring, accusing her of playing rough and tumble politics. Last week, in the wake of the deadly Midtown massacre in which a sicko fatally gunned down four people, including an NYPD officer, Stefanik spotlighted a 2020 social-media post from Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani who said the NYPD is 'racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.' 'Flashback : Kathy Hochul's very own Commie Mamdani A disgrace and truly unfit to be Mayor of NYC,' Stefanik wrote in the post. 4 The Midtown massacre gunman carried his rifle in plain view before Monday's heinous attack. Obtained by NY Post Hochul fired back Sunday, 'It's pathetic and especially in the time when we're a city that's in mourning, to be taking cheap shots and trying to infer that he had something to do with this,' the governor swiped. 'I mean, come on.' While Hochul is the favorite heading into 2026, Republicans have overperformed in several state elections in recent years. In 2022, for example, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin lost to Hochul by about 6.4 percentage points. Hochul also re-upped her well-worn push to ban so-called 'assault rifles' and noted how the gunman trekked down from Nevada to unleash upon innocent people in New York City. 'Why do we even allow these weapons of mass destruction to be sold anywhere in America? Other countries have completely banned them,' the governor said. 'Why can't Congress and the president step up and say, 'This is it, no more?' ' The gunman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, carried an M4 rifle while marching into the building to unleash fire, according to the cops. Hochul argued it takes 'political courage' to enact gun control and appealed to Trump. 4 President Trump has helped clear a path for Elise Stefanik to apparently run for governor in his home state, New York. AP 'I'd be willing to make the case,' she said. 'And you know how important this is. You never know what's going to be a breakthrough. 'This is President Trump's hometown. He knows these streets. He knows these buildings. And so does anyone who might understand the incredible vulnerability that people and they're going to their jobs every single day in Midtown.'
The Hill
4 minutes ago
- The Hill
How foreign policy could crash Republican midterm prospects
This summer's MAGA revolt over the Epstein Files has challenged the longstanding assumption that President Trump has an unbreakable bond with the Republican base. Trump loyalists from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to Steve Bannon to Tucker Carlson have recently criticized the president not just on the Epstein disclosures but also on Medicaid cuts in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill.' Yet new polling shows that another issue could cost Trump crucial support and substantially lower his standing among independent voters whom Republicans need in order to win future elections. While Republicans largely rallied around Trump following the June 22 bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, recent YouGov polling commissioned by the Center for Economic and Policy Research demonstrates substantial political risks for the president and his party if he supports an expanded war involving Israel and Iran. When respondents consider the economic consequences of a broader conflict, as well as their trust in the justifications offered for involvement in such a war, Trump faces overwhelming dissent among Independents. These voters are about one-third of the electorate and currently about evenly split between Democrat-leaning and Republican-leaning. If an issue becomes important in an election and the Independent voters move strongly in one direction, that can swing the election. A clear majority of voters — 65 percent — reported they would hold Trump responsible if gasoline prices rose to $6 a gallon as a result of expanded U.S. military involvement. Among Independent voters, this sentiment rises to 69 percent. Further, when informed that economists would expect a significant rise in mortgage interest rates to result from an expanded conflict — potentially adding over $100,000 in lifetime payments for a typical home — 72 percent oppose U.S. military involvement, with two thirds of those expressing 'strong' opposition. Most polls treat foreign policy decisions as isolated events, simply asking whether voters support or oppose military action. But major interventions do not occur in isolation — they can impact gas prices, mortgage rates and overall confidence in politicians and their political parties. A true measure of public sentiment on expanded military involvement must account for these potential and even likely consequences, which often drive voter attitudes more than abstract strategic considerations. Donald Trump rose politically by highlighting Americans' declining trust in institutions, from government regulators and health experts to traditional media. But the polling shows that Trump himself faces serious accusations from his base of breaching public trust and caving to wealthy donors advocating unconditional support for Israeli policies that millions of voters view as wrong and dangerous. Sixty-three percent of respondents expressed concern that Trump's decision to attack Iran could be influenced by major campaign donors, a concern particularly strong among Independents. And two-thirds of voters — including nearly one-third of Republicans — feel that intervening in an Israel-Iran conflict contradicts Trump's core 'America First' promise. In June, Tucker Carlson accused Trump of being 'complicit in the act of war' following Israel's attacks on Iran, and influential MAGA voices like Steve Bannon echoed similar skepticism. Yet commentary alone is unlikely to shift conservative public opinion. People respond to tangible impacts in their lives. If Trump once again follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into major military action in the Middle East, the consequences may extend beyond geopolitics and significantly impact the president's party in next year's midterm elections. Consider some midterm math. On all five questions related to U.S. intervention in Iran, voters who identify as Republican or Democrat overwhelmingly aligned with their respective parties. For example, by a ratio of 88 percent to 12 percent, Democrats said they did not believe that 'Trump is getting involved in this war for the sake of U.S. national security.' Republicans held the opposite view, with 77 percent believing national security was the reason and 23 percent not believing it. This leaves Independent voters as potentially decisive. According to current polling data, Independents are evenly divided between 'Republican-leaning' and 'Democrat-leaning,' generally indicating close national elections. However, on questions regarding U.S. participation in a war against Iran, Independents are solidly opposed, by a margin of two to one. This leads to an overall result of 63-37 saying that they do not believe that U.S. involvement in such a war is 'for the sake of national security.' While the June war between Israel and Iran appears to be over, another Israeli attack in the near future remains quite possible. Should Trump decide to join such an operation before the next election, it could significantly undermine Republican chances of retaining Congress. Mark Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He is the author of 'Failed: What the 'Experts' Got Wrong About the Global Economy (Oxford University Press). Justin Talbot Zorn is a senior adviser at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Truman National Security Fellow, and served as legislative director for three members of Congress.
