President Donald Trump would like to see changes to the Names, Image, Likeness (NIL) deals that have become a significant part of major college sports and have led to huge money payouts for a number of college athletes. While the NIL deals in recent years have allowed some football and basketball player a chance to get paid while in school, it has created something of a “Wild West” atmosphere that favor the biggest schools.
Donald Trump tells the group that college sports needs an enforceable “salary cap” or schools will continue to run in the red and “women’s sports are in deep trouble” of continuing to get cut. pic.twitter.com/iSAL9RqxnW
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) March 6, 2026
It also has put many of the non-revenue and women's sports at risk, particularly at mid-majors and smaller schools. One of the programs that the President is promoting is an enforceable salary cap that could lead to more equitable distribution of funds that are available to student athletes.
Trump signed an executive order that seeks to ban “third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes,” The President has directed members of his administration to figure out how best to enforce the plan going forward. The administrators are expected to come up with a proposal on how the order should be enacted within 30 days.
College athletes were given permission by the NCAA in 2021 to earn money from the NIL deals. Many of the deals secured by the most notable athletes — particularly those in college football and basketball — have been extremely lucrative and some rival the big-money deals associated with popular professional athletes.
Originally, the NIL deals did not involve the schools paying players directly, but those rules have been relaxed and schools are now fully involved in the distribution of money. While the previous systems prevented college athletes from earning any money, the current system appears to have a negative impact on non-revenue sports and women's sports.
