Donald Trump is stepping deeper into the college sports landscape, signing a new executive order aimed at reining in player movement and setting clearer limits on how long athletes can compete.
At the center of the directive is a push to standardize eligibility. The order attempts to cap athletes at five years of participation and tightens transfer rules, allowing one immediate move without penalty but restricting additional transfers unless certain conditions are met.
Beyond transfers and eligibility, the order also encourages protections for Olympic and women's sports programs and calls for more structure around player representation, including oversight of agents.
What makes the move more aggressive than past efforts is how it would be enforced. Federal agencies have been instructed to review whether schools that don't comply with the proposed rules should continue to receive government funding, raising the stakes for universities already navigating tight budgets.
The administration framed the order as a response to the growing instability in college athletics, where shifting rules, legal battles, and rising player-compensation costs have created uncertainty across the industry.
"College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules concerning pay-for-play and player eligibility that can't be endlessly challenged in court," the White House said in a statement.
The order was timed to drop just before one of the biggest weekends in college basketball.
Lawyers reached out to by ESPN told the network that Trump’s order was likely to be ruled unconstitutional.
NCAA president Charlie Baker suggested that while some ideas in the order mirror ongoing conversations, federal legislation will likely be needed to make any reforms stick.
"We need congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things," Baker said.
