Trump Education Dept. rescinds Biden's NIL equity mandate

Field Level Media|published: Wed 12th February, 13:37 2025

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; President Donald Trump salutes as Ivanka Trump holds her hand over her heart during the playing of the national anthem in Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

President Donald Trump's Department of Education has rescinded the previous administration's Title IX guidelines for an equitable distribution of name, image and likeness (NIL) payments to college athletes.

In his final days in office, former President Joe Biden's Department of Education released a nine-page fact sheet that said the payments must be proportionate between a school's male and female athletes in order to comply with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits gender-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights on Wednesday rejected Biden's memorandum as "11th-hour guidance."

Acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor called Biden's proposal "overly burdensome" and "profoundly unfair."

"Enacted over 50 years ago, Title IX says nothing about how revenue-generating athletics programs should allocate compensation among student athletes," Trainor said. "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. Accordingly, the Biden NIL guidance is rescinded."

The move will allow athletic departments to continue pushing the lion's share of revenue toward their football and, in some cases, men's basketball programs.

--Field Level Media