Congress is expected to continue debating how to regulate NIL payments as pressure grows for universal framework governing college athletics. Lawmakers in both parties have introduced bills aimed at standardizing rules and addressing competitive disparities between schools, but no agreement has been reached.
Donald Trump Says Schools Spending Too Much Money On Recruits
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he supports the idea of a salary cap in college sports. His argument is that schools are spending too much money luring elite recruits. Speaking on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show,” Trump expressed his belief that college programs now require “NFL-type payrolls” to compete for titles and warned that “bad things are going to happen unless they figure this out.”
Besides having too many Black teenage millionaires with an opportunity to make real changes in the world, this author is not sure what bad things the President is referring to.
He added that “colleges don’t make that much money” and suggested salary limits similar to those in professional leagues. “I don’t care how rich, the colleges don’t make that much money, even the most successful, so they’re not going to be able to do this.”
President Trump Doesn’t Seem Versed On Who Funds NIL Collective
Clearly the President has no idea that most of the “riches” that the players are allegedly getting come from NIL groups with treasure chests that function separately from what the university itself is offering any of these players. Every major university has an NIL collective, providing the bag to outbid other schools for the best talent. Of course, schools such as Colorado or North Carolina’s collective are not as affluent as Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan or Texas Tech. So there are advantages that have always existed for the larger schools, now predominantly found in the Big Ten and SEC.
Trump continued, “A lot of the lesser sports are being terminated. It’s a shame, it was almost like a training ground for the Olympics and a lot of those training grounds are being lost”
Title IX ensures that there is fair and equal access to athletics for men and women. If anything, it’s the football programs that fund other sports that don’t generate any revenue for the schools but are mandated to operate. Without these high-priced college football teams and their dynamic players risking permanent injury on every snap to feed a billion-dollar industry that they get peanuts from, many of the other sports wouldn’t exist. So Trump isn’t exactly accurate there either.
Democrats and Republicans Battling Over NIL Legislation
Trump’s comments put him right in the middle of a heated debate about how to balance athlete compensation with competitive fairness. Since the Supreme Court’s 2021 ruling that changed the game and finally allowed players to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), colleges and mega boosters have poured hundreds of millions into recruiting the best talent. Critics of this new way of doing business have referred to it as straight “pay-for-play” and an “arms race” that tilts the scales of success overwhelmingly in favor of the programs with the deepest collectives. We have seen this play out most prominently in college football and basketball.
Who decides how much is too much? We know that schools and administrators and coaches have been raking in the doe for the past half century on the backs of athletes who would lose eligibility if they took a sandwich from a coach or sell a jersey with their own name, that the school was selling in its stores for $30 a pop. Trump signed an Executive Order that seeks to ban so-called “pay-for-play” payments to college athletes. Critics say they are just de facto salaries. Trump supports their position that college sports in the U.S. is “under unprecedented threat.”
Trump Wants Nick Saban To Help Legislate New NIL Rules
If you think about the people that Trump would probably be consulting on NIL matters, oldschool legends who left the game because of the new structure such as Nick Saban come to mind. Trump praised the former Alabama coach on McAfee, saying that Saban should play a larger role in shaping college sports policy.
“That’s why a guy like Nick Saban …and I’ve worked with Nick, but a guy like Nick Saban and some others getting together, because they’re going to have to do something.”
This is Trump trying to put the ketchup back in the tube. Bringing in a head coach who thrived under a system of intimidation and totalitarian rule doesn’t mesh with the new culture, where some kids enter school with hundreds of thousands of dollars and plenty of choices in the portal.
In his July Executive Order Trump said: “The future of college sports is under unprecedented threat. Waves of recent litigation against collegiate athletics governing rules have eliminated limits on athlete compensation, pay-for-play recruiting inducements, and transfers between universities, unleashing a sea change that threatens the viability of college sports.
“While changes providing some increased benefits and flexibility to student-athletes were overdue and should be maintained, the inability to maintain reasonable rules and guardrails is a mortal threat to most college sports.”
NCAA Supports Donald Trump’s Attack On NIL
Trump is trying to regain control of the system and return the money back to the pockets of the rich.
Conversely, Senate Democrats introduced the Student Athlete Fairness & Enforcement (SAFE) Act on Sept. 29, a sweeping bill that would establish the first federal rights and protections for college athletes while expanding revenue opportunities and leveling the playing field for smaller schools.
NCAA President Charlie Baker expressed great pleasure in Trump’s involvement. The NCAA used to strike the fear of God into athletes. The governing body feels that it has lost control now that athletes can make money and make moves at an unprecedented pace.
