WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump waded into a debate over the influence of big-money payouts in college sports on Thursday, signing an executive order adding federal government scrutiny to the practice.
The order, which is expected to face legal challenges, seeks to block some recruiting payments by third parties like donors to college athletes in big-dollar sports like football and men's basketball in order to preserve funds available for women's and non-revenue sports.
Though the practice is already forbidden by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, some donors have found ways to bypass the rules to recruit top talent with lucrative offers.
The policy is not aimed at fair-market compensation to athletes for brand endorsements, the White House said.
The order also pushes colleges to raise scholarship payments for non-revenue sports and directs U.S. officials to start "clarifying" the legal status of student-athletes.
Trump's directive could lead to changes in school budgets as well as the multimillion-dollar market for U.S. college athletes, and it could lead to limitations on payouts or employment rights for those athletes.
Yet how exactly the policy will be enforced is still to be determined.
Under the order, federal officials will develop a plan to deliver on Trump's order using "all available and appropriate regulatory, enforcement, and litigation mechanisms," including their funding power over states, colleges and universities.
Since taking office in January, Trump has repeatedly tried to intervene in actions by sports leagues, colleges and universities.
A February executive order aimed to bar transgender women from competing in women's sports. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee implemented such a ban this week, citing the order.
Trump has also targeted elite universities' federal funding over topics including pro-Palestinian student protests. Columbia University on Wednesday said it would pay over $200 million in a settlement to resolve federal probes and have most of its suspended federal funding restored.
PAY FOR PLAY
The NCAA, which governs U.S. sports in higher education, had long prohibited student-athletes from receiving compensation for athletics outside of scholarships in a bid to preserve the amateurism of college sports and keep the playing field fair for recruiting.
But in June 2021, the organization approved an interim policy allowing college athletes to make money by selling their name, image and likeness (NIL) rights.
The policy allowed student athletes to make money through activities such as signing autographs, endorsing products or businesses, and making personal appearances so long as the activities were legal in the state where the school was located.
In March 2025, the NCAA agreed to permanently eliminate its rule that prohibited student athletes from negotiating NIL deals before enrolling in a school.
The change came a day after a legal settlement between the NCAA and a group of state attorneys general who had sued the organization, arguing that the restriction violated federal antitrust law.
The changes in recent years on NIL payments, the White House said, "has created a chaotic environment that threatens the financial and structural viability of college athletics."
Michael LeRoy, a University of Illinois labor and employment relations professor, said the order would likely be challenged as unconstitutional.
"The fact that players want to have the same rights under antitrust law that everybody else has is not a problem," he said.
The problem, he said, is that the NCAA and athletic conferences that govern top sports "have stubbornly refused to grant employment status and collective bargaining to athletes."
In a statement, NCAA President Charlie Baker said it was grateful for the administration's focus on the issue and said that new legislation may be necessary to address problems facing college sports.
"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.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Additional reporting by Frank Pingue, Bhargav Acharya and Jasper Ward; Editing by David Gregorio and Leslie Adler)
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