The roundtable, scheduled for March 6, includes an invite list of dozens of major figures and sports celebrities, aimed at exploring the many challenges facing the industry. The list of invitees, which, like the event itself, is subject to change depending on those familiar with the planning, includes college athletic commissioners, university administrators and other industry leaders, along with business executives, professional sports figures and political officials.
Trump is expected to chair the discussion, which will likely touch on some of the major issues facing college athletics, including governance, athletes’ employment status, collective bargaining, legal battles and federal involvement.
The meeting comes amid continued uncertainty in college sports governance, and industry leaders remain divided over how to address these pressures.
The NCAA’s authority has been weakened in recent years by several court rulings and a rapidly changing name, image and likeness (NIL) marketplace that has all but undone a long-standing model of amateurism at the highest levels. Top college programs are actively looking for ways to increase spending above the new revenue sharing cap, while many other schools are struggling to generate enough revenue to keep pace. Power conferences negotiate television contracts that pale in comparison to those of their peers. And Congress has been unable or unwilling to establish a national framework to stabilize things.
The White House could position itself as a conference table for that chaos.
Yahoo Sports first reported details of the roundtable and listed guests such as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver; golf legend Tiger Woods; Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua; Texas Tech board member and prominent businessman Cody Campbell; Heisman winners Tim Tebow and Charlie Ward; as well as national championship coaches Mack Brown, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer. It is unclear which of the guests will ultimately be present.
Trump has shown an interest in college sports and has attended numerous college football games during his two terms, including the Army-Navy game in December. He signed an executive order last July titled “Saving College Sports,” directing federal agencies to scrutinize employment classification for athletes, antitrust protections for the NCAA and conferences, and enforcement standards around third-party NIL payments. The order did not entail any binding changes, underscoring that lasting reforms will likely require action from Congress. Trump also explored a presidential commission that would be co-chaired by Saban and Campbell, but it was ultimately dropped.
Earlier this week, Trump appeared on “Josh Pate’s College Football Show,” a national college football podcast. Next week’s roundtable appears to be his next effort on the subject.
#President #Trump #convenes #panel #focused #future #college #sports #Sources