WASHINGTON (Gray DC) – Friday at the White House, President Donald Trump convened a group of television executives, college athletic directors and conference commissioners with one goal – fixing college sports.
President Trump loves sports. He’s attended just about every major sporting event in his second term. But the President has criticized college sports arguing that NIL – name, image and likeness deals – have professionalized sports at colleges and universities across the country.
Billed as the “College Sports Roundtable,” the President sought input from attendees such as former college football coach Nick Saban, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, former Secretary of State and current part-owner of the Denver Broncos football team Condoleeza Rice. The President wants to establish a national framework for NIL. “Federal legislation must allow college athletic programs to set commonsense rules, simple commonsense rules without endless litigation, and establish a fair name, image, and likeness standard that eliminates the patchwork of conflicting state laws.”
That statement prompted Gray Media’s White House correspondent Jon Decker to ask this question to the President:
Jon Decker, White House Correspondent:
“What is your timeline for either the executive order that you just mentioned or the legislation?”
President Donald Trump:
“I will have an executive order within one week. And it will be all encompassing. And we’re going to put it forward and we’re going to get sued and we’re going to see how it does.”
President Trump last year signed an executive order intended to protect college sports. But it’s not clear whether Friday’s College Sports Roundtable will produce any concrete proposals, despite extensive discussions amidst participants. The president was adamant that the issue is very important to him.
Shortly after the White House event, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) announced a bipartisan discussion draft of the College Sports Competitiveness Act that they will be introducing in the Senate next week.
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