Former President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning about the future of college sports and the broader U.S. collegiate system, highlighting the potentially devastating financial consequences of the new era of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) payments to college athletes. Speaking at a White House summit on Friday, Trump and various sports leaders expressed deep concern that unless decisive reforms are enacted swiftly, the entire collegiate athletic framework could collapse under escalating costs and financial strain.
At the heart of the discussion was the profound impact of recent legal and regulatory changes that allow college athletes to profit from their own NIL rights—a seismic shift from the previous era when athletes primarily received scholarships without direct monetary compensation. Trump lamented the “horrible” court settlement that led to this system, describing it as having “thrown the sports world and the college athletic world into tithers,” a phrase underscoring the chaotic financial implications for universities and athletic programs nationwide.
Trump warned that the current trajectory threatens not only sports programs but the educational institutions themselves. “The whole educational system is going to go out of business because of this,” he said, emphasizing the urgency of the problem despite pressing national and global issues such as the war in Iran dominating headlines. He revealed plans to issue an “all-encompassing” executive order within a week aimed at spurring legislative action. Trump acknowledged that such an order would likely provoke legal challenges, potentially returning the matter to the courts that originally approved player compensation rights.
The White House summit brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including lawmakers, conference commissioners, the NCAA president, and the CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Notably absent were the NCAA’s 550,000 college athletes themselves, a glaring omission given the centrality of their interests to the debate. Participants broadly agreed on one point: the college sports industry faces an existential crisis stemming from the escalating costs associated with NIL payments, which many universities are struggling to manage.
One speaker at the event highlighted the dire financial state of college athletic programs, referencing a recent essay by the University of Louisville’s president and athletic director. The essay detailed how NIL-related expenses have forced Louisville’s athletic department into a $12.5 million deficit—a predicament echoed by many other programs across the country. The financial imbalance raises profound questions about the sustainability of college sports as currently structured.
While the summit was dominated by high-level discussions about the systemic risks, less attention was given to concrete strategies for generating new revenue to support the growing financial demands. This issue remains a contentious topic, with significant disagreement among stakeholders about how to fund the industry’s expansion and keep programs afloat.
One potential legislative solution discussed was the SCORE Act, a bill designed to provide the NCAA with a limited antitrust exemption and to preempt conflicting state NIL laws. This bill has faced resistance, particularly from Democrats, but House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed optimism that it could finally gain enough support to pass. The act is seen by many as a critical step toward establishing national standards and structural reforms to stabilize college sports.
In tandem with this, Senators Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) announced plans to introduce legislation allowing college athletic conferences to pool their media rights—a practice currently barred by the 1961 Sports Broadcasting Act. Pooling media rights could unlock new streams of revenue by enabling conferences to negotiate collectively for broadcasting deals. Schmitt stressed that “the revenue side is inextricably linked to the success” of any reform efforts, highlighting the financial dimension of the crisis.
Texas Tech regent Cody Campbell, a strong advocate for media rights pooling, told Trump he hoped to join a smaller working group tasked with drafting the upcoming executive order. Campbell estimated that collective media rights deals could generate as much as $6 billion, potentially safeguarding football, basketball, and Olympic sports programs for decades. However, this optimistic projection is not universally accepted; major conferences like the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big Ten remain skeptical about such revenue gains.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who also spoke at the summit, urged the Senate to act swiftly but emphasized that legislative reform should focus more on “structures and national standards” than on revenue generation alone. He pointed to multiple issues that the SCORE Act could address, suggesting that a comprehensive regulatory framework is necessary to resolve the challenges facing college sports.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose committee holds significant influence over legislation, underscored the need to consider both the cost and revenue sides