Dept. of Education revokes guidance on Title IX and athlete pay - ESPN

Title IX does not apply to name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, the U.S. Department of Education said in a statement Wednesday, rescinding the Biden administration's guidance that schools must equitably distribute direct payments to male and female athletes.

«Without a credible legal justification, the Biden Administration claimed that NIL agreements between schools and student athletes are akin to financial aid and must, therefore, be proportionately distributed between male and female athletes under Title IX,» according to a statement from Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor. «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.»

The decision comes a week after President Donald Trump spoke about his support for women and girls in sports while surrounded by female athletes before signing an executive order banning transgender women from competing on women's and girls' teams, citing compliance with Title IX.

The Trump administration's statement Wednesday overturns a memo the Office for Civil Rights — the division of the Department of Education that enforces Title IX law — issued in December about how gender equity laws will apply to a new era of college sports that is on track to begin this summer.

The NCAA and its power conferences have agreed to allow each school to share up to $20.5 million in direct payments to its athletes via NIL deals as one of the terms of a pending antitrust settlement.

Many major college athletic departments plan to distribute the majority of that money to athletes in sports that generate the most revenue — mostly