By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
WASHINGTON DC – With an abundance of Executive Orders having been signed since President Trump took office in January, here is one that has the highest branch of the United States getting involved in sports now too.
It is one to watch as those involved in college sports have suggested President Trump is set to sign executive order that will force national NIL stands in college athletics.
CBS news reported over the weekend Trump’s idea behind this order is to establish standards for future name, image, and likeness initiatives.
While everyone has been looking toward the Epstein files, Israel and the many other distractions that have been pouring out of DC both red and blue, Congress has an amended bill being considered with the supposed intention to “protect the name, image, and likeness rights of students athletes to promote fair compensation with respect to intercollegiate athletics, and for other purposes.”
This bill is called the SCORE Act, or the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements Act. This bill could give way for federal standards to override state laws now in place determining player compensation.
While the SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said last week he did not know if Trump would be signing an executive order on this topic, he did confirm “The President clearly has an interest in sports, big picture, has an interest in college sports.”
Over the years the name, image and likeness idea in NIL has changed the scope of athletics at the college level.
Some have said if an EO from Trump does materialize it will do one of two things.
Possibly it will serve to create NCAA-friendly rules that will in turn offer a threshold to the amount of money players can make. If not that push, then it will possibly lead the way to create a commission to investigate athlete compensation.
Overall, the name of the game will be to “Support power conference schools in their lobbying goals to limit high-profile players from joining smaller programs due to money” according to SBNATION.
During this term, Pres. Trump has looked toward college sports with a keen eye, even with some in the sports world noting he has tossed around the idea of establishing a college sports commission. That commissioner is rumored to be headed by Cody Campbell notable for his involvement with Texas Tech and former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who has spoken out about NIL payments due to his own past experiences.
While the EO could be signed at any time, it is worth a mention too, this piece of legislation could also put a cap on how much a player can earn through NIL while also codifying athletes as not being employees.
How much further an EO would take that idea is still on the table to be determined if signed.
The SCORE Act was introduced by Janelle Bynum from Oregon and Shomari Figures from Alabama who are both Democrats in Congress.
The bill has been backed by the Republicans and opposed for the most part by the Democratic party.
With Trump stepping in with an EO that takes the concept of this bill to another level.
With an eye toward Trump’s signing an EO it is being suggested that would mean more revenue for the college and less revenue for the players involved.
