President Donald Trump predicts that unless the industry is quickly fixed, it will destroy not only college sports but the entire American college system — and some sports leaders who joined him at a White House summit on Friday agreed that can only be achieved by raising more money to pay players.
Trump said he would craft a “catch-all” executive order within a week in hopes of triggering congressional action. He said he expects the order will spark a lawsuit that could reroute the issue to the court system, which would approve industry-changing payments to players for their names, images and likenesses.
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The new system left many schools in the red, and the rules governing payments to players were only slowly taking effect.
Asked why he would devote time to college sports with the Iran war and other issues dominating the headlines, Trump explained: “The whole education system is going to go bankrupt because of this.”
At the meeting in the East Room — attended by lawmakers, conference commissioners, the NCAA president and the CEO of the U.S. Olympic team, but not the NCAA’s 550,000 college athletes — Trump said, “I think the scholarship system is great.” He was reflecting on a recently ended era in which players received little more than financial aid.
He said the “terrible” court settlements that led to the current system – settlements that nearly everyone here agreed with – “put the sports world and the college sports world into a ‘tithe’ situation.”
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Everyone at the meeting agreed that the industry needs to avoid a spiral of costs resulting from NIL payments.
They also mostly agree with a bill called the SCORE Act, which would provide the NCAA with limited antitrust immunity (opposed by many Democrats) and preempt state laws on NILs, which could be the basis for any changes. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the bill has struggled to pass the House but may now gain enough support to pass.
Shortly after the meeting, a bipartisan Senate bill on television rights surfaced
Earlier this week, the University of Louisville’s president and athletic director published an article detailing ways to pay players that have restructured college athletics and driven much of the industry into the red. Louisville’s athletic department is reportedly running a $12.5 million deficit, and it’s not the only school in this situation.
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Amid the big-picture speeches at the White House meeting about the dangers facing college sports, the deep differences over how to generate more revenue — and how to fund that growth — received less attention.
Shortly after the meeting ended, Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., reiterated an idea that has been popular over the past few months. They plan to introduce a bill next week that would give the conference the option to centralize media rights – a practice banned under the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act.
“The revenue aspect is integral to the success of this program,” Schmidt said. “I do think we can come together.”
Another major supporter of the idea, Texas Tech University trustee Cody Campbell, attended the meeting and told Trump he wanted to be part of a smaller working group to help him draft the executive order.
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Campbell suggested that pooling television rights could raise an additional $6 billion, which could keep football, basketball and Olympic sports solvent for decades. The Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten disagree with that conclusion.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey urged the Senate to take action in an interview with Trump, but he did not focus on the broadcast.
“It’s not about revenue, it’s about structure and state standards,” he said before listing off a list of issues that the current SCORE bill would address.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose committee was critical to the bill’s passage in the Senate, said lawmakers need to consider both the cost and revenue aspects when crafting the law.
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“If we wait another year, wait two more years, your state’s programs will disappear and your state’s students will lose their scholarships,” Cruz said. “It would be an absolute farce if we let that happen.”
Trump sheds tears as judge approves deal that majority agrees with
Trump has repeatedly accused U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken — whom he called a “radical left-wing judge” — of making the system work by approving the so-called House settlement.
He seemed surprised that Wilken’s decision – signed after a years-long legal process by the NCAA, major conferences and the athletes themselves – was not appealed.
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He was also stunned in 2021 when he was told that the Supreme Court’s 9-0 decision in NCAA v. Alston set in motion the creation of a system that many now view as being in jeopardy.
“So, the Supreme Court is responsible for this? Gee, that’s surprising,” Trump said.
Olympic movement faces greatest danger if college costs aren’t reined in
But the president knows all too well what’s at stake in saving college sports.
He acknowledged that the biggest losers in all this may be Olympic and women’s sports, whose college athletic department budgets are funded by revenue generated by football and basketball programs across the country.
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U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland told Trump that the U.S. team has topped the medal table in eight of the past 10 Summer Olympics, largely due to the strength of athletes produced by the university system.
“The economic pressure is unsustainable,” she said. “We’ve heard it many times and we know that the Olympic sports budget will inevitably be the first to be cut. In some cases, women’s sports may also be cancelled, but so may men’s sports. We have to keep a close eye on both.”
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
