President Trump held a Saving College Sports roundtable to address the issues facing college sports. The round table was a who’s who of college sports with former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, SEC commissioner Jim Phillips, and NCAA President Charlie Baker among others in attendance. Of those in the attendance, not one current college athlete was invited to be a part of the discussion. Again, allowing conversations about college sports that are devoid of the voice of the group of people who are affected the most - the college athletes.

College sports is experiencing a seismic shift that started in 2021 when college athletes gained the right to profit from their name, image, and likeness. This change was the result of tireless efforts by college athletes’ rights advocates who sought to bring more equity to college sports through the passage of state legislation. College sports has become a billion-dollar industry with coaches and sports administrators enjoying seven figure salaries. While many college athletes received scholarships, that value was not always commensurate with the value the athlete bestowed upon their university. Accordingly, college athletes’ rights advocates sought change.

Also in 2021, the NCAA suffered a major loss in the landmark Supreme Court case - NCAA v Alston. While the Alston case addressed whether it was necessary for the NCAA to restrict the amount of educational rewards college athletes could receive to preserve amateurism, the case addressed broader issues that affected the NCAA’s enforcement of its rules. The Supreme Court made it clear that the NCAA’s rules were subject to antitrust law and that the Court would not be giving the NCAA an antitrust exemption. Since then, the NCAA has faced numerous challenges to its rules, largely based on antitrust law principles. The NCAA and other college sports administration officials has spent much time and money lobbying Congress to enact college sports legislation. There have been numerous congressional hearings and the proposal of several bills addressing college sports. Almost all the bills have had no success. The SCORE Act is the only bill to make it through committee. However, a vote on the SCORE Act was postponed due to lack of support.

It is these recent changes in college sports that ultimately led to the Saving College Sports Commission roundtable. The overall sentiment of the discussion is that college sports needs to be saved and that federal legislation is needed to restore order in college sports. In fact, support of the SCORE act was voiced once again. The proposed SCORE Act is certainly NCAA friendly as it will give the NCAA its highly sought after antitrust law exemption. If the NCAA is given an antitrust law exemption the organization will have what it needs arbitrarily enact rules affecting the athletes without their input. Furthermore, the athlete’s most effective form of recourse against the enactment of rules they have no say in will disappear.

During the discussion, points were made regarding the notion of college athletes being deemed employees, concerns were voiced regarding maintaining opportunities for Olympic sports. Texas Tech billionaire booster, Cody Campbell made the point that it is unlikely that everyone gets exactly what they want and that a place must be found where everyone can be equally happy. This is most likely true, that it will be impossible for everyone to get exactly what they want. If Congress does pass a college sports bill, it is sure to be a series of compromises. The only way to ensure that everyone is “equally happy” everyone must be in the room. College athletes must have a meaningful voice in the conversation and ultimate decision making. President Trump vowed to provide an executive order that will be “all encompassing” within one week. It will be interesting to see the makeup of this executive order.