U.S. President Donald Trump has aimed another Executive Order at collegiate sports.
His latest proclamation signed Thursday hopes to empower federal agencies to help enforce new regulations on athletic scholarships and pay-for-play NIL agreements in college athletics.
The executive order, a summary of which can be read here, requires schools to maintain certain scholarship numbers for women’s sports and Olympic sports.
“The collegiate athletic system produced 75% of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team and has yielded countless business and civic leaders,” the order reads, painting collegiate athletics as an important pathway for society beyond its direct revenue generation.
The order includes a section directing government officials to consult with the USOPC about “safeguarding the integral role and competitive advantage that American collegiate athletics provide in developing athletes to represent our Nation in international competitions.”
The portion of the order relating to maintaining athletic scholarships reads as follows:
- (a) It is the policy of the executive branch that opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports must be preserved and, where possible, expanded, including specifically as follows with respect to the 2025-2026 athletic season and future athletic seasons:
- (i) collegiate athletic departments with greater than $125,000,000 in revenue during the 2024-2025 athletic season should provide more scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports than during the 2024-2025 athletic season and should provide the maximum number of roster spots for non-revenue sports permitted under the applicable collegiate athletic rules;
- (ii) college athletic departments with greater than $50,000,000 in revenue during the 2024-2025 athletic season should provide at least as many scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports as provided during the 2024-2025 athletic season and should provide the maximum number of roster spots for non-revenue sports permitted under the applicable collegiate athletic rules; and
- (iii) college athletic departments with $50,000,000 or less in revenue during the 2024-2025 athletic season or that do not have any revenue-generating sports should not disproportionately reduce scholarship opportunities or roster spots for sports based on the revenue that the sport generates.
Several schools have announced reductions below the roster limits required as part of the House Settlement, including notably Georgia Tech, which has reduced its roster to 16 men. Most SEC schools would fall into the category of largest schools, which would require them to offer more scholarships and the maximum roster spots – at odds with a conference policy limiting men’s swimming & diving programs to 22 spots.
The House Settlement ascribed a maximum of 30 roster spots each for men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs.
The order also seeks to restrict student-athletes from receiving NIL deals beyond fair market value, also known as pay-for-play deals. These deals involve boosters essentially writing checks to players without any real expectation of an athlete endorsement (or checks in excess of the athlete’s endorsement value).
“But guardrails designed to ensure that these were legitimate, market-value NIL payments for endorsements or similar services, rather than simply pay-for-play inducements, were eliminated through litigation,” the order reads.
The latest developments in the post-house Settlement era has involved the NCAA trying to install similar guardrails through its College Sports Commission (CSC). Attorneys for plaintiffs have protested this as not holding to the terms of the settlement.
One NCAA Division I compliance director told SwimSwam that they did not expect the Executive Order to hold up in court. Legal experts cited by other news outlets have also questioned the legality of the order, though many legal paradigms have shifted during Trump’s first and second terms as president.
“The future of college sports is under unprecedented threat,” the order reads. “A national solution is urgently needed to prevent this situation from deteriorating beyond repair and to protect non-revenue sports, including many women’s sports, that comprise the backbone of intercollegiate athletics, drive American superiority at the Olympics and other international competitions, and catalyze hundreds of thousands of student-athletes to fuel American success in myriad ways.”
Trump has signed at least 175 executive orders so far in his second term, which began in January. That is more than the 162 that his predecessor Joe Biden signed in four years according to The American Presidency Project at UCSB. Several have been blocked by courts for violating federal laws, regulations, or the U.S. Constitution, while others have been canceled by the White House.
It’s encouraging that the executive order highlights the importance of NCAA women’s and Olympic sports for Team USA! Regarding swimming and other NCAA Olympic sports, if a pay-to-play continues, funding should prioritize U.S. athletes over foreign athletes, who often receive support from their national teams. Apologies to Cal, UT, and Indiana.
the only reason I would not mind dying TODAY is to not ever have to see this face and hear this voice ever again
Another thought is for you to wear a permanent blindfold and superglue on noise cancelling headphones. While not entirely comfortable, you could still post randomly on SwimSwam as long as you have auto spell. Speaking for the readership, we enjoy your insightful posts and would miss you. Therefore please go with option 2.
kind words. Unfortunately, from the last 20 years, the image and voice are burnt into my brain.
It’s only an executive order. Doesn’t carry much weight.
it will if congress gets in gear and makes it a law.
congress does what the voters want it to do and not blindly follow rump’s orders. Right?
L.O.L.
I thought Congress was on a recess to avoid voting on a certain issue that involves a list.
Can you say “lawsuits”?
I fear GT might just cut swimming entirely after this…
Nothing in the order says they have to have swimming specifically. To follow the order they can just make up the extra scholarships in Track or tennis or something.
Would be easier than recruiting an extra 30 swimmers to get up to the ACC roster limits.
they won’t cut swimming unless they make a new sports team since they’re at the minimum number of sports to remain D1, but they will reduce the budget as much as possible
I suspect that this executive order will be followed by proposed federal legislation which, while it may take a year to become law, will be even stronger than this executive order.
The biggest hurdle toward anything related to sports (or anything else for that matter) is the Senate where it takes 60 votes to avoid a filibuster before legislation can advance to a final vote where it would need a simple majority. It’s why the current bill that advanced out of committee in the house this week is likely DOA in the Senate.
Our President working for us!
he destroys whatever he touches, but ok
He literally couldn’t explain what he just signed if his hair depended on it.
just randomly order the words “beautiful”, “fantastic” and “I” and it will be explained
Thankfully our President is both far reaching and decisive in his speeches. So happy we have a proactive leader who cares about our sport!
I would like Georgia Tech to chime in now