Executive Order on Fair Competition in Intercollegiate Athletics: An Analysis of Its Potential Implications
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 24, 2025, titled "Saving College Sports", aiming to establish federal guidelines for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) standards in NCAA sports. The order seeks to regulate athlete compensation, maintain fairness, and preserve the educational and developmental benefits of collegiate sports.
The key details of the executive order include:
- Prohibition on pay-for-play NIL transactions: The order aims to eliminate NIL deals where student-athletes receive payments in exchange for their athletic performance or playing time. This includes agreements backed by boosters or collectives that might incentivize athletes to transfer schools, potentially undermining competition and team stability.
- Clarifying athlete employment status: The order directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to determine whether collegiate athletes should be legally considered employees of the schools they represent. This could affect their rights and benefits beyond NIL.
- Preservation and expansion of women's and non-revenue sports: Federal agencies are tasked with ensuring certain scholarship levels and participation opportunities to protect sports that are crucial for gender equity and Olympic success.
- Response to recent court cases and legal settlements: The order follows major rulings such as O’Bannon v. NCAA, NCAA v. Alston, and the House v. NCAA settlement, which have given athletes rights to their NIL earnings and allowed universities to pay players up to $20.5 million per year. The order aims to create a national framework that mitigates the risks posed by varying state laws and court decisions.
- Agency collaboration: The order directs the Secretary of Education, Attorney General, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to develop policies that implement these NIL rules within 30 days, reflecting increased federal oversight.
The executive order establishes guardrails to prevent pay-for-play schemes, clarifies athlete employment, protects less commercialized sports, and pushes for a nationally consistent approach to NIL compensation in college sports. However, it does not specify the entity with the authority to prohibit third-party, pay-for-play payments and enforce which agreements are considered third party or legitimate endorse deals.
The SCORE Act, a bipartisan federal bill, is one step closer to being introduced on the House floor for debate and potential vote after summer recess. The act aims to assist the NCAA in regulating college sports, but has been denounced by student-athlete advocacy groups.
Since July 2021, NIL freedoms have been used for proxy play-to-pay payments, leading to numerous lawsuits under anti-trust grounds against the NCAA. The rev-share cap of $20.5 million per school that opts in is still subject to anti-trust problems and potential litigation against the NCAA.
Notably, over 50 D1 colleges opted out of the rev-share created by the House vs. NCAA settlement, while only a handful of D2 and D3 institutions opted in. EA Sports is set to resurrect the NCAA College Basketball franchise.
The executive order is part of a 30-day plan to preserve college sports and clarify the NCAA's mode of operation. Schools with between $50-$125 million of revenue should provide at least the same scholarship opportunities and roster spots as in the 2024-25 athletic season. Schools with less than $50 million of revenue should not disproportionately reduce scholarship opportunities or roster spots for sports based on the revenue that the sport generates.
On July 10, the SCORE Act was introduced to the U.S. House with the goal of assisting the NCAA in regulating college sports. Since that day, colleges that have chosen to opt into revenue sharing are essentially paying collegiate athletes to play sports at their universities, although they are not considered employees of those institutions. The order directs any rev-share agreed upon to be done in a way to preserve athletic scholarships and opportunities for women's and non-revenue sports.
The White House released a fact sheet on Trump's executive order, titled "President Donald J. Trump Saves College Sports". Since July 2025, there has been considerable debate on the legal ramifications of NIL statutes under state laws, with over 30 states passing NIL laws. The order addresses scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports, with schools having more than $125 million of revenue in 2024-25 required to provide more scholarships and roster spots than in the 2024-25 athletic season.
- The executive order aiming to establish federal guidelines for Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) standards in NCAA sports, signed by President Donald Trump, seeks to regulate athlete compensation and maintain fairness in collegiate sports.
- The SCORE Act, a bipartisan federal bill, aims to assist the NCAA in regulating college sports, but has faced criticism from student-athlete advocacy groups.
- NIL freedoms have been used for proxy pay-to-play payments since July 2021, leading to numerous lawsuits under anti-trust grounds against the NCAA.
- The executive order establishes a 30-day plan to preserve college sports and clarify the NCAA's mode of operation, requiring schools with between $50-$125 million of revenue to provide at least the same scholarship opportunities and roster spots as in the 2024-25 athletic season.
- The order directs any revenue sharing agreed upon to be done in a way to preserve athletic scholarships and opportunities for women's and non-revenue sports, including sports like basketball.
