Trump signs EO to ‘save college sports,’ prohibit ‘pay-for-play’ athlete deals

According to the order released by the White House, Trump has directed members of his Cabinet to make a plan in the next 30 days to target the preservation of college sporting opportunities based on the revenue received by various colleges' athletic departments. The order also declares that college athletes and schools cannot engage in "third-party, pay-for-play payments."

The regulation of the payments does not "apply to legitimate, fair-market-value compensation that a third party provides to an athlete, such as for a brand endorsement," a fact sheet stated. The order states that revenue sharing between colleges and athletes should also be implemented so that "opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports must be preserved and, where possible, expanded."

The order from Trump comes as policies that have previously prohibited payment or wages for college athletes in the NCAA have been removed over the last several years. However, with the freeing up of funds to be spent on athletes from colleges, there have been concerns that sports that do not produce much revenue will go by the wayside, along with athletic scholarships for those collegiate sports.

"Collegiate athletic departments with greater than $125,000,000 in revenue during the 2024-2025 athletic season should provide more scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports than during the 2024-2025 athletic season and should provide the maximum number of roster spots for non-revenue sports permitted under the applicable collegiate athletic rules," the order states.

In the case of departments bringing in $50,000,000 or less in revenue coming in from sports, those colleges "should not disproportionately reduce scholarship opportunities or roster spots for sports based on the revenue that the sport generates."