President Trump is poised to issue an executive order to fix the controversial “name, image and likeness” model for college sports sponsorship deals – a multibillion-dollar cash grab that critics claim has become a tax on US higher education, On The Money has learned.
The White House and the Justice Department are working off a draft EO that addresses business practices that have upended college sports, diverting resources away from academics and sparking increased student fees, critics say.
The order – expected to be released within the next few weeks, according to insiders – will likely include spending caps for schools looking to woo student athletes with lucrative endorsement deals.
There will also be reforms to the so-called transfer portal system, which currently allows student athletes to act like free agents and jump to numerous schools during their college career as they chase dollars, the sources said.
The EO will likewise address concerns that the NIL ecosystem favors a few high-profile sports – namely big-time college football and basketball – at the expense of Olympic and female athletes, according to insiders.
The reforms listed in the EO will not touch student athletes doing promotions with legitimate third-party businesses – just those that involve the university, the sources said.
A White House press rep had no immediate comment.
Observers say the EO will not and cannot be the final word on reforming the NIL system given some of the complex legal issues involved. Those include antitrust issues concerning the NCAA possibly “suppressing” athlete compensation through any reform of the system.
As a result, House speaker Mike Johnson is expected to push through legislation on the entire issue, sometime in the coming weeks I am told. Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz is pushing for reforms as are Democrat Sens. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Republican Eric Schmitt of Missouri. Other Dems such as senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Chris Coons of Delaware said to be interested in legislation, On The Money has learned.
The executive order will be the first major initiative after Trump unveiled a new commission at a White House presser two weeks ago to reform the business of college sports — including the controversial NIL system.
It began in 2021, when the ruling body of college sports, the NCAA, allowed athletes to cash in on their “name, image and likeness” through advertising and various endorsements through so-called booster organizations.
College sports, particularly football and basketball at big schools, are multibillion-dollar industries. The NIL system — giving students athletes ownership of their name, image and likeness – seemed like an equitable way to spread the wealth among those actually playing the game and putting fans in the seats.
But local car dealership ads and TV spots soon turned into colleges using NIL to lure the best players. Young athletes are being courted with multimillion-dollar deals. The transfer portal allows colleges to woo premier athletes who can jump to multiple schools during their playing days as they are lured by big-bucks NIL endorsements.
Arch Manning, the highly touted QB from the University of Texas and heir to the Manning football dynasty, has inked an NIL deal worth nearly $7 million.
The major problem with all of this is that NIL collectives, or so-called booster organizations, tap into the university funds base to lure the athletes at the expense of other college needs.
