President Trump’s recent Executive Order, “Urgent National Action to Save College Sports,” is another attempt to control college athletes and restrict their rights and freedom. The Order is being championed by many college athletics leaders, the same leaders who led the industry into the chaos that college athletics is consistently described as today.
These leaders: especially Charlie Baker and the Power Conference Commissioners; currently have the power and knowledge to help fix this system. Instead of spending time working towards the only proven, comprehensive solution for college sports (collective bargaining), these leaders continue to waste time, money and valuable tax payer dollars on the wrong things.
Let’s be clear: this Executive Order doesn’t change a single NCAA rule. It doesn’t override court decisions and it cannot rewrite federal antitrust law. Even the Order itself admits its limitations, directing the NCAA to act only “as permitted by law and applicable court orders” which is exactly why the current system continues to unravel in the courts: its illegality.
So what this EO really is, according to legal and industry experts, is a wish list for Congress to write into legislation. This Order, along with constantly shifting NCAA rules like the transfer portal and enforcement efforts by the College Sports Commission, creates deliberate confusion for college athletes and their families about what the rules actually are, when they apply, and who governs them.
The answer is not an Executive Order with no true authority, nor is it the SCORE Act, which also aims to drastically limit college athletes’ rights. The SCORE Act would bar athletes from becoming employees forever, give the NCAA a federal antitrust exemption and grant the NCAA the ability to cap athlete compensation. But, of course, not applying the same restrictions to administrators, coaches and conference commissioners.
If leaders actually want a true solution, there’s one real, fair and equitable path: athletes having a seat at the table to collectively bargain and negotiate the terms of their experience. A collective bargaining agreement is the only way to create a structure with enforceable rules. This is because the athletes, through their chosen players association, will have actually agreed to these rules with whomever decides to lead college athletics into the future. This agreement would benefit both sides by offering a tangible remedy to the industry while allowing all athletes to prosper under standardized rules and guidelines, instead of chaos that benefits only a few.
Meanwhile, until collective bargaining is adopted, there will be more headlines, statements and toothless Executive Orders that distract from making real progress. This EO aims to rewind the clock to an era where athletes had far fewer rights than today. One where their careers were at the total mercy of those who profited off of their hard work, a complete lack of regard for their value and were expected to just “shut up and play.”
When all of the leaders in an industry that generated $19B in revenue in 2024, consistently meet to discuss how they can control, limit and restrict college athlete rights without proactively seeking the sustainable, proven solution, it’s not just immoral, it’s intentional and negligent. By continuing to make decisions restricting the rights and power of college athletes everywhere, the current leadership is forcing the hands of athletes to show just how organized they are and where the power truly lies in this industry.
Athletes aren’t the problem. The system is. Athletes.org will keep fighting for the only sustainable solution for college sports: a future where athletes are true partners in the multibillion dollar industry they fuel.
