On Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to enforce rules that include capping collegiate athlete eligibility and limiting the number of times a player can transfer programs.
The order includes a stipulation allowing an athlete to transfer once without penalty, but any subsequent transfer would automatically require the athlete to redshirt a season. Among the few exceptions to this rule are athletes who earn a four-year degree, which would give them a second unpenalized transfer.
As for transfers, the order also calls for a transfer window that does not interfere with the athletic seasons or the academic year. Currently, the college football transfer portal closes in mid-January, conflicting with the College Football Playoff and the start of the spring semester.
Eligibility is also capped within the order, giving athletes five years to play five seasons. The exception to this rule includes years spent in military or missionary service and “other periods of absence from participation that are in the public interest.”
The order also lays out rules prohibiting professional athletes from returning to college sports and enforcing age-based eligibility, though it does not specify an age limit. Both topics have been heavily discussed in recent months, particularly after former NBA G League player Charles Bediako returned to Alabama to play for five games before a court denied him an injunction to play the rest of the season.
According to CBS News, the order threatens schools that fail to comply with the new rules. Any school found in violation could see its federal funding reviewed and potentially cut.
Last month, President Trump hosted a college sports roundtable with various high-profile professionals and collegiate sports stakeholders. Among those invited, according to a list obtained by Front Office Sports, was former Clemson University President Jim Clements.
Towards the beginning of the roundtable, President Trump alluded to the possibility of signing an executive order to “save college sports.”
“We’ll do an executive order,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it works, because it would be a really nice — I have a really simple idea. But we’ll go through this process, and maybe I think we’ll get it through Congress.”
The order will go into effect Aug. 1, leaving the college basketball transfer portal, set to open on April 7, unaffected. The delayed effective date is meant to give the NCAA time to set rules and regulations in accordance with the order.
In addition to transfer and eligibility regulations, the order also calls for regulations on name, image and likeness collectives and on required funding for women’s sports and the Olympics.
One particular target of the order is prohibiting pay-for-play payments to athletes to urge them to transfer. The order also requires the creation of a national student-athlete registry and protections from excessive agent commissions.
As far as protections for female and Olympic athletes, the order requires that revenue sharing between schools and student-athletes be preserved specifically for women’s and Olympic sports. The fact sheet for the order posted on the White House’s website states that “the future of college sports — and especially women’s and Olympic sports—is under serious threat,” which ultimately led to the added stipulations.
With the order officially in place, it is sure to face legal challenges in the near future. According to ESPN, numerous lawyers believe a judge would rule the order unconstitutional, potentially setting the stage for yet another contentious collegiate sports legal battle.
