Donald Trump signs order, seeks to clarify NCAA athletes' employment status - ESPN

President Donald Trump has directed members of his Cabinet to develop a plan in the next 30 days aimed at preserving college sports opportunities and preventing college athletes from becoming professionals, according to an executive order he signed Thursday.

Trump's order sets out specific guidelines for preserving athletic scholarships based on an athletic department's annual revenue. It also declares that schools should not permit athletes to accept «third-party, pay-for-play payments.» The order states that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon should use future federal funding decisions among other tools to force schools to abide by the administration's policy.

The NCAA always has prohibited pay-for-play payment from third parties. In the past several years, college sports leaders have struggled to find ways to stop boosters at the industry's wealthiest schools from paying athletes via contracts that are endorsement deals on paper but function in reality as de facto salaries.

«A national solution is urgently needed to prevent this situation from deteriorating beyond repair and to protect non-revenue sports, including many women's sports, that comprise the backbone of intercollegiate athletics,» Trump stated in the order.

The executive order states that endorsement deals from third parties should continue to be permitted so long as they reflect a «fair market value.»

The Power Four conferences launched a new enforcement agency this month — the College Sports Commission — in an effort to vet all third-party deals athletes sign to make sure they are reasonable payments for endorsements rather than a veiled pay-for-play arrangement. It's not yet clear if or how the administration's new policy could help strengthen those