Report: President Trump wading into NIL waters

Field Level Media|published: Sat 3rd May, 12:33 2025

Donald and Melania Trump arive at the Superdome as The LSU Tigers take on The Clemson Tigers in the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship. Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. Cfp Monday Half1v2 0323

President Donald Trump has asked his aides to begin researching the creation of an executive order to better control the name, image and likeness landscape in college sports, The Wall Street Journal reported.

His directive came after a meeting on Thursday with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where Trump was the school's commencement speaker.

Since 2021, and under pressure from states and the courts, the NCAA has allowed student-athletes to profit from their name, image or likeness. It is too early to know what a Trump executive order would entail.

Saban has been critical of the NIL funding in the past, largely because he was concerned about the effect on college football. The NIL era also has brought a rise to the transfer portal era, with thousands of students across all sports seeking to move schools -- some of them for bigger paydays.

"Each year, it's gotten a little worse," Saban said last December on "The Pat McAfee Show" on ESPN. "The first year we had name, image and likeness four, five years ago, we had a $3 million [roster], and everybody was happy. Then the next year it was $7 million, then the next year it's $10 million. Then this year it's $13 million. Now they're looking at $20 million. I mean, where does it end?"

A Houston Chronicle report earlier this week projected the Texas Longhorns would have a budget of $35 million to $40 million for its 2025 football roster.

Per The Wall Streeet Journal report, published Friday, Saban told the president that he wasn't trying to put an end to NIL funding for players, but instead wanted to see the creation of a more level playing field between the schools with deep pockets and those that didn't have as much money available.

Trump also has discussed NIL funding with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), the former head football coach at Auburn.

Saban has previously said the current model is unsustainable for college sports, and Trump apparently agreed.

The NCAA declined to comment to The Wall Street Journal on a potential executive order.

--Field Level Media