President Trump Issues Second Executive Order to “Save College Sports”

April 8, 2026

By: Robert H. Kirchner, Michael Sheridan, and Connor J. Johnson

On April 3, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Urgent National Action to Save College Sports” (Order), which addresses several issues impacting intercollegiate athletics today. This action follows Executive Order 14322, titled “Saving College Sports,” which the President signed July 24, 2025, and directed Federal agencies to take regulatory, enforcement and litigation action to protect the educational, athletic and scholarship opportunities (including in women’s and non-revenue sports), maintain competitive balance among institutions and curb third-party pay-for-play activities. 

This second Order seeks to: (i) implement more consistent rules and standards with regard to NIL activities and pay-for-play schemes; (ii) limit a student-athlete’s eligibility to participate in athletics to no more than five years; (iii) curb student-athlete transfer activity; (iv) address looming financial harms to women’s and Olympic sports; (v) preempt court rulings and state laws that prohibit the NCAA from creating and enforcing rules; and (vi) restrict institutions from spending Federal dollars to fund NIL, revenue-sharing and coaches’ salaries. 

The Order focuses on the current “out-of-control financial arms race” in football and basketball “that is driving universities into debt, threatening to siphon resources from other sports and damaging student-athletes’ education and graduation opportunities.” Moreover, and relevant to its legal basis, the Order states that the “financial perils … could impact [universities’] capabilities and responsibilities as Federal contractors and grantees” and that the “health of the university system is integral to the Federal Government’s basic functioning.”

The Order goes into effect Aug. 1, 2026, and applies to all higher education institutions that had athletics revenues of at least $20 million last year. At present, it is unclear how the Order’s objectives would be accomplished without Federal legislation given the numerous judicial rulings and state laws that have limited the NCAA’s authority in these areas. In addition, the Order uses several terms and phrases that will need clarification regarding their scope and intent. Bond will be monitoring developments and anticipates additional guidance to be released soon.

NCAA (interstate intercollegiate athletic governing body)

The NCAA shall update and clarify rules in the following respects:

  • Create age-based eligibility limits to cap athletics participation at no more than five years (with exceptions for military and missionary service or other periods of absence that are in the public interest);
  • Prohibit professional athletes from returning to college athletics;
  • Limit student-athletes to a one-time transfer with immediate eligibility during the five-year period of eligibility (plus an additional transfer opportunity for athletes who obtain a four-year degree);
  • Create transfer windows that do not interfere with the athletic season or academic calendar;
  • Mandate that student-athletes receive medical care for their term of enrollment at the institution and a “reasonable” period of time thereafter;
  • Implement a revenue-sharing framework that preserves or expands scholarship and athletic opportunities in women’s and Olympic sports, including prohibiting spending “revenue-sharing” funds in ways that reduce scholarships and athletic opportunities in women’s[1] and Olympic sports;
  • Prohibit institutions from spending Federal funds on NIL & revenue-sharing payments or on compensation for coaches and certain athletics staff;
  • Prohibit institutions from engaging in other “improper financial activities”[2];
  • Create a national registry of student-athlete agents and implement rules to protect the athletes from excessive agent commissions.

Attorney General (AG)

  • The AG shall act to invalidate state laws that: (a) conflict with NCAA rules; (b) discriminate against out-of-state commerce activity or unduly burden or impede interstate commerce; (c) impair contractual relationships; and (d) are otherwise invalid under Federal law.

Other Federal Directives

The Order tasks other Federal agencies (Office of Management and Budget, General Services Administration, Department of Education and Federal Trade Commission) to support these initiatives, including:

  • Issue guidance to contracting and grant-making agencies to ensure compliance with the Order, including reinforcing the “suspension and debarment policy” for rules violations;
  • Create and enforce rules obligating institutions to submit information regarding eligibility limits, transfer activity, revenue-sharing, roster makeup and funding & support for men’s and women’s varsity athletic teams; and
  • Enforce current Federal law (e.g., Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act) concerning student-athlete agents to protect athletes from unfair, deceptive or exploitive practices. 

If you have any questions about the information presented here, please contact Robert Kirchner, Mike Sheridan, Connor Johnson, any attorney in Bond’s collegiate sports practice or the Bond attorney with whom you are regularly in contact.

[1] On Feb. 12, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights rescinded the Title IX guidance regarding Name, Image, And Likeness payments to student-athletes issued under the prior administration stating, “Title IX says nothing about how revenue-generating athletics programs should allocate compensation among student-athletes. The claim that Title IX forces schools and colleges to distribute student-athlete revenues proportionately based on gender equity considerations is sweeping and would require clear legal authority to support it. That does not exist.”

[2] “Improper financial activities” means the following actions taken by a federally-funded higher education institution, including its officers, agents, affiliates or representatives: (i) intentionally devising or participating in a fraudulent NIL scheme; (ii) knowingly accepting contributions from persons who intentionally devise or participate in a fraudulent NIL scheme; (iii) using Federal funds for NIL or revenue-sharing payments or for any type of payment or benefit to a coach, assistant coach, general manager, recruiter or other person engaged in coaching or managing an athletic team; and (iv) tortiously interfering with a contract between a student-athlete and another federally-funded higher education institution, including a scholarship agreement.