Trump orders action to save college sports from lawsuits and financial obligations, citing the need for comprehensive executive action.

Trump orders action to save college sports from lawsuits and financial obligations, citing the need for comprehensive executive action.

[URGENT NATIONAL ACTION TO SAVE COLLEGE SPORTS] By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  America’s system of college sports has long provided scholarships and life-changing educational, athletic, and leadership opportunities to millions of America’s future leaders and formed an important part of our national fabric.  In July, I signed an Executive Order to protect college sports from endless lawsuits and destabilizing financial obligations that could jeopardize women’s and Olympic sports, but it has become clear that more comprehensive executive action is required before college sports are lostforever.  College football is the primary revenue generator for university athletic departments, including revenue to support women’s and Olympic sports, and is used by many universities to attract students, donations, and goodwill as millions of Americans gather with families and friends to watch each Saturday. These factors place enormous pressure on many universities to be competitive in football. The same dynamic exists for basketball to a lesser degree. Amid this pressure, the rules governing pay-for-play, eligibility, and other aspects of college athletics have been substantially loosened through a number of judicial rulings. Additional rules that could institute order and consistency in these systems have been nullified by some State legislatures that are incentivized to advantage their own State’s universities in the competitive market for student-athletes by minimizing barriers to recruitment. This chaotic state of affairs has undermined competition, reduced opportunities for student-athletes, and jeopardized support for the current range of college athletics, particularly women’s and Olympic sports. Fair competition cannot occur without a consistent set of rules concerning pay-for-play or player eligibility that cannot be endlessly relitigated in court. The convergence of enormous pressure to win in football and basketball and the loosening, both by litigation and by State legislation, of consistent rules or limits concerning eligibility, transfers, and pay-for-play schemes has created an out-of-control financial arms race in these sports that is driving universities into debt, threatening to siphon resources from other sports, and damaging student-athletes’ educational and graduation opportunities. The athletics-related financial threats these crucial universities face are substantial: Already, one major athletic program closed fiscal year 2025 with $535 million in athletics-related debt, and another has $437 million in such debt, while others face enormous annual athletics-related deficits. These financial perils will inevitably siphon funds from universities’ educational and research purposes, which could impact their