On July 24, the Trump administration issued an executive order titled “Saving College Sports.” The EO seeks to prohibit third-party pay-for-play payments, expand and preserve women’s and non-revenue sports, and clarify the educational status of student-athletes.
Notably, the EO directs the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board to “determine and implement the appropriate measures with respect to clarifying the status of collegiate athletes, including through guidance, rules, or other appropriate actions, that will maximize the educational benefits and opportunities provided by higher education institutions through athletics.”
Additionally, the EO sets forth policy for institutions to follow with respect to scholarships for non-revenue sports, and it calls third-party pay-for-play payments to student athletes “improper.” As a result, the secretary of education is tasked with developing a plan to address the policies for non-revenue sports and third-party pay-for-play payments “through all available and appropriate regulatory, enforcement, and litigation mechanisms, including Federal funding decisions, enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, prohibiting unconstitutional actions by States to regulate interstate commerce, and enforcement of other constitutional and statutory protections, and by working with the Congress and State governments, as appropriate.”
The EO also seeks to create legal protections for college athletics facing lawsuits by directing the attorney general and the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to “stabilize and preserve college athletics through litigation, guidelines, policies, or other actions, as appropriate, by protecting the rights and interests of student-athletes and the long-term availability of collegiate athletic scholarships and opportunities when such elements are unreasonably challenged under antitrust or other legal theories.” The federal agency officials are directed to review and revise existing litigation positions, guidelines, policies or other actions and to develop a plan to implement appropriate measures. CUPA-HR will continue to monitor for future actions taken by federal agencies in response to the EO.