WASHINGTON (TNND) \u2014 President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a new executive order directing the federal government to determine whether college athletes who earn money from playing for their schools can be considered employees.<\/p>\n
The order, titled \u201cSaving College Sports,\u201d acknowledged that 65% of the U.S. Olympic team in 2024 was made up of NCAA athletes. It also noted the recent emergence of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules has led to a \u201cchaotic\u201d landscape for players who are now navigating salary negotiations on top of schoolwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has created an out-of-control, rudderless system in which competing university donors engage in bidding wars for the best players, who can change teams each season,\u201d the order reads. \u201cThis not only reduces competition and parity by creating an oligarchy of teams that can simply buy the best players \u2014 including the best players from less-wealthy programs at the end of each season \u2014 but the imperative that university donors must devote ever-escalating resources to compete in the revenue-generating sports like football and basketball siphons away the resources necessary to support the panoply of non-revenue sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump continued by calling for a \u201cnational solution\u201d to these issues and proposed several actions for the federal government. Among these are determining students\u2019 employment status, providing legal protections to athletes and protecting the development of the U.S. Olympic team.<\/p>\n
The order follows NCAA President Charlie Baker\u2019s decision to engage with Trump on a college sports commission, which would also approach problems raised through the NIL model. Among those potentially being considered to lead the commission is former Alabama football coach Nick Saban.<\/p>\n