President Donald Trump signs executive order to limit NIL payments in college sports

President Donald J. Trump has signed an executive order banning ‘pay-for-play’ deals in college sports. According to an official White House statement, the bill will restrict “pay-for-play” arrangements for student-athletes. However, the bill still allows for “legitimate, fair-market-value compensation” from third-parties.

Here is the full executive order obtained by Yahoo!’s Ross Dellenger:

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Texas Tech major booster Cody Campbell are at the forefront of the sport’s biggest voices pushing for changes to the NIL market.

“It’s not a secret. I had a chance to visit with the President, along with Pete Bevacqua, the athletics director at Notre Dame,” Sankey said, via ESPN.

The order could send shockwaves through college football and men’s basketball, where player recruitment in the so-called transfer portal has become a multimillion-dollar market in recent years, with top teams spending tens of millions to fill out rosters.

The order would not apply to fair-market compensation for athletes who make brand endorsements, according to the White House.

“We met and played golf at Bedminster, and his interest is real. My takeaway: he wants to be supportive of college athletics, make sure that it’s sustainable, the Olympic program, and the Olympic development.”

How will this affect the Indiana Hoosiers athletic program?

Indiana is at the top of the NIL game, with most of their top end monet going to the men's basketball program and football program followed by the women's basketball team and baseball program.

CBS Sports' Matt Norlander recently stated that the most expensive college basketball roster could be upwards of $15 million-$18 million in 2025. Norlander put 10 schools in that exclusive $10 million club: Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, St. John's and Texas Tech. 

"Coach Cignetti would not be here if we didn't have a robust NIL program. That's just because you have to have the resources to be able to win. As good as he is, he needs those resources as well," Scott Dolson (Indiana Athletic Director) explained. “The NIL opportunity for us has enabled us to really level the playing field around the country.”

Tyler Harris, the Executive Director of Hoosiers Connect, the official NIL collective of Indiana University athletics chimed in with this.

“College athletics is a very competitive industry. And NIL has become no different," Harris said. "NIL is so important to attract talent, to retain talent, and to keep people here who we want."

Here's what the order broke down for non-revenue sports via USA Today Sports:

• Athletic departments with more than $125 million in revenue should provide more scholarship opportunities for non-revenue sports than last year and should provide the maximum number of roster spots permitted under NCAA rules.
• Those with $50 million in revenue should provide at least as many scholarships for non-revenue sports as last year with the maximum number of roster spots permissible.
• Colleges with $50 million or less in athletic revenue should not disproportionately reduce scholarships or roster spots based on how much revenue the sport generates.