Pay-for-play banned? Trump's executive order puts NIL deals at risk

The landscape of collegiate athletics continues to evolve following the landmark settlement in the House v. NCAA case. After federal Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement in the case, it opened up the ability for programs to pay college athletes directly.

The settlement states that programs will have access to a revenue-sharing pool of $20.5 million for payments to players, which is projected to increase during the 10-year contract.

The settlement also mandated that the NCAA pay $2.8 billion in back pay over the next decade to former athletes who competed from 2016 to the present.

The revenue-sharing program began on July 1 for the 2025 season.

As programs continue to navigate the new rules, name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals will still be in place, but will be more heavily scrutinized with penalties for programs that do not follow the regulations and exceed the limits.

If the rules weren't clear enough already, President Trump decided to muddy the waters even further by signing an executive order that gives the NCAA some of the items it has been lobbying for.

In the executive order titled "President Donald J. Trump Saves College Sports," Trump put future NIL deals in question by eliminating third-party, pay-for-play payments to college athletes.

The order prohibits third-party pay-for-play payments to athletes, but "does not apply to legitimate, fair-market-value compensation that a third-party provides to an athlete, such as for brand endorsement."

NCAA President Charlie Baker thanked Trump in a statement, noting that there are still threats to college sports that federal legislation can effectively address.

The executive order did not address who would be in charge of enforcing the prohibition of pay-for-play, third-party payments to athletes.

Iowa's newly Iowa's newly-created "Flight Funds" program and the "Swarm Collective" could be effective by Trump's new executive order.

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