CBS News reported Wednesday that President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order establishing national standards for name, image and likeness initiatives. What that order would entail, and what Trump’s vision for college athletics looks like, have been a relative mystery.
Until now. Trump’s administration constructed a seven-page draft of the executive order, titled “SAVING COLLEGE SPORTS,” according to a copy obtained by Yahoo Sports.
The draft, which is by no means a final version and only suggests what the actual order may look like, aims to “preserve” college sports from “unprecedented threat” by introducing sweeping policies addressing many hot-button issues, including athlete compensation, employment and the preservation of Olympic sports.
The draft also takes aim at the recent House v. NCAA settlement, which it argues will be “upended soon” by further litigation.
Based on the draft Trump’s executive order would direct the attorney general and the Federal Trade Commission to address a few key areas:
- Protect college leaders from antitrust laws around the “long-term availability” of scholarships and opportunities for athletes.
- Prevent “unqualified and unscrupulous agents” from representing athletes in financial dealings.
- Create uniformity in NIL legislature, which could mean preempting the patchwork state laws.
- Work with the U.S. Olympic team to “provide safeguards” for NCAA Olympic sports, and utilize secretary of education and National Labor Relations Board to “clarify the status” for those athletes.
Trump has shown a keen interest in college athletics in the early months of his second term. In May, reports emerged that he intended to create a college sports commission, headed by prominent Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell and legendary former coach Nick Saban, that would investigate pressing issues such as NIL reform; however, the White House put those plans on hiatus. A completely unrelated College Sports Commission (CSC) was created in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement, which opened the door for athletes to profit off of revenue sharing.
The CSC, in partnership with consulting firm Deloitte, launched an online portal called “NIL Go,” where athletes can report third-party NIL deals to ensure that they match “fair market value” and include a valid business purpose based on an actual endorsement.
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