President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools.
The order directs the NCAA to create rules requiring college athletes to be able to play for “no more than a five-year period” and allowing them to transfer schools only once before graduating without having to miss a season. The rule changes are scheduled to take effect on August 1. A school that has an athlete who does not meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.
The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women's and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes.
“College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules on pay-for-play and player eligibility that cannot be endlessly challenged in court, as is the case now,” the White House said in a news release about the order.
Several attorneys who work with universities and their athletes told ESPN they believe judges would rule the president's order unconstitutional and unenforceable if challenged in court.
NCAA President Charlie Baker said during a news conference in Phoenix before the women's Final Four that he had not yet read the entire executive order, but from what he saw on social media, “there's a lot of things in there that are pretty consistent with the things we've been talking to them and Congress about.”
“We need congressional action to seal agreement on a number of these things, which is good because we do, and getting bipartisan agreement on a number of those issues would be a really big deal,” Baker said. “Based on my own conversations with many Democrats and Republicans in Washington over the last month or two, I think there is a lot of common ground there.”
When asked why the NCAA needs an executive order to help resolve its problems, Baker said, “On some of these issues, it's hard for us to do it without at least some support from the feds. The courts are one way to resolve the debate, but it takes a long time and creates a lot of uncertainty.”
Trump acknowledged that his administration would likely be sued when he first mentioned his plans for an executive order during a roundtable with college sports leaders in early March. Trump has used the threat of withdrawing federal funding from universities as a negotiating tactic and as an effort to enforce other policies during his second term, with mixed success. In September, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from Harvard as punishment for the university's decision not to comply with an executive order related to alleged anti-Semitic behavior on campus.
Trump has expressed interest in helping the college sports industry find its footing several times over the past year. Several dozen college sports leaders joined Trump and other sports executives at a White House roundtable in early March seeking a way for the federal government to restore some power to the NCAA and its schools. Trump said at that meeting that he intended to draft an executive order within a week that would “solve every problem in this room.”
The NCAA has struggled to enforce its rules since a Supreme Court decision in 2021 made clear that the organization was not exempt from antitrust laws, which prevent any group of companies from colluding to limit the earning potential of its labor market.
Since then, the organization has changed its rules to allow athletes to transfer each year and has had mixed results in fighting dozens of lawsuits filed by athletes who wanted to continue playing after their eligibility expired. Current NCAA rules allow athletes to play four seasons over a five-year period.
Friday's order is the Trump administration's second attempt to use its executive power to create some change in college sports. His first order, signed in July 2025, had no notable impact on the way the industry is governed. Several stakeholders in college sports told ESPN that they hope the new order serves as a powerful signal to Congress, which has the ability to provide more significant and lasting changes.
After more than five years of discussing options and proposing bills, neither the U.S. House of Representatives nor the Senate have fully voted on any legislation related to college sports. The House has twice delayed voting on a bill known as the SCORE Act since September. Sources told ESPN this week that the bill could be amended and reintroduced sometime in April.
In the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell are actively negotiating in hopes of producing a bipartisan bill this spring, according to sources on Capitol Hill. Cruz told ESPN earlier this year that it was “absolutely critical” that the new legislation included language preventing college athletes from being considered employees of their school. Several Democrats believe employment and collective bargaining are the best path to finding a sustainable future for college sports. Sources said the jobs debate remains one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a compromise.
“This Executive Order identifies some of the key issues facing college sports, including continued funding for Olympic and women's sports,” Cantwell said. “Congress should continue to have bipartisan discussions about how to raise revenue to achieve these goals. I'm glad to hear that the President wants Congress to pass something.”
The president's executive order does not address employment or other important unresolved issues in college sports, such as Cantwell's initiative to reform the way schools share revenue from their television contracts.
ESPN's Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.
