It’s no secret that name, image, and likeness (NIL) money and the transfer portal have drastically altered the state of college athletics, particularly football and basketball. For a long time, there has been a chorus of “somebody should do something about it.”
Someone has done something about it, and his name is Donald Trump. The president signed an executive order on Friday limiting how long athletes can play and how many times they can transfer.
The order states that college athletes can play for “no more than a five-year period” and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn’t meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.
The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women’s and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes.
“College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules concerning pay-for-play and player eligibility that can’t be endlessly challenged in court, as is the case now,” reads a White House press release.
College football is the primary revenue generator for university athletic departments, including revenue to support women’s and Olympic sports, and is used by many universities to attract students, donations, and goodwill as millions of Americans gather with families and friends to watch each Saturday. These factors place enormous pressure on many universities to be competitive in football. The same dynamic exists for basketball to a lesser degree. Amid this pressure, the rules governing pay-for-play, eligibility, and other aspects of college athletics have been substantially loosened through a number of judicial rulings.
The order takes effect on August 1, 2026, and it also calls on Congress to enshrine the order’s details into law. Now we just wait for a federal judge to stick his or her nose into it.
Related: College Football’s New Normal: When ‘Senior’ Means Age, Not Class
It’s a reasonable order, and it does a lot to rein in the craziness of the current state of college sports while also protecting women’s sports. The NCAA supports the executive order as well. But the only caveat that I have is this: Is it the federal government’s place to get involved in college sports?
You may remember back in 2023 when a group of athletes and broadcasters met with Joe Biden. That conversation touched on making athletes employees of the schools where they play, which could also lead to unionization.
I believe college football players deserve to have their voice heard on and off the field.
Today, I met with former players and advocates to discuss fair treatment and consistent safety standards. pic.twitter.com/3m0hsbMOmN
— President Biden Archived (@POTUS46Archive) November 8, 2023
The last thing college athletics needs is for the Biden administration to get its hands on things. You know that labor organization is what this crop of Democrats would recommend, and making athletes beholden to unions would ruin college sports.
I don’t want Donald Trump — or Ron DeSantis or any other Republican — to get the federal government involved in college sports either. This isn’t an issue for the federal government, particularly the executive branch.
President Trump had a similar meeting with a larger group of people involved in college athletics in March, and he promised an executive order. Republicans in the Senate have legislation called the SCORE Act — which got plenty of advertising time this past college football season — but Democrats aren’t interested in helping pass it.
We need to do something about the Wild West of college sports. This executive order is a good start, regardless of how weird it feels for the feds to get involved. If college athletics programs could police themselves without a government solution, it would be even better.
The culture doesn’t take a day off—and neither do we.
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