Name, Image and Likenesslegislation is one of the few things that has some level of bipartisan support in Congress. Currently, the House of Representatives is working the SCORE Act through the proper channels. The SCORE Act, which stands for Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements, would serve as a federal framework to override state laws regarding NIL.
Now President Trump wants to jump into the fray with an executive order and, as expected, it comes with a set of concerns. CBS News reports that the order would establish national standards for NIL.
Without knowing the exact details of the executive order, there's been a lot of speculation about what the potential ramifications will be. Pete Nakos of On3Sports reports that the order could keep the student-athletes from being considered employees.
"Sources speculated that an executive order from Trump could include language barring athletes from being classified as employees. It’s an issue that has long been pursued by the NCAA. The National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel rescinded a Biden-administration memorandum in February. The Biden-era memo from the previous NLRB general counsel stated they viewed college athletes as employees of their institutions under the National Labor Relations Act."Pete Nakos, On3Sports
President Trump stays in touch with top CFB power players
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey says he has no idea what Trump's plans are with the executive order and when approached by USA Today's Matt Hayes, Sankey simply said, "The President is going to do what he wants to do."
Sankey went on to add that there's been a lot of talk and speculation about Trump's plans, which have included a presidential commission with rumors that Nick Saban would be involved in some capacity.
“I’ve read things on social media, but I also read that there would be a presidential commission,” Sankey continued. “So the question with an executive order is if (Trump) does, and then what it is, and then we’ll go from there.”
Recent reports suggested President Trump could sign an executive order for a national NIL Standard.@GregSankey joined @PeterBurnsESPN and @ChrisDoering and revealed what his conversations with the President have been and why he's not going to overreact to the latest reports. pic.twitter.com/3u2GGpJVhC
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) July 16, 2025
Last month, Trump and Sankey played golf together and presumably discussed some of these issues. The result of that outing gave Sankey confidence that Trump is committed to doing what he feels is best for college sports.
“It’s not a secret, I had a chance to visit with the President, along with Pete Bevacqua, the athletics director at Notre Dame,” Sankey said. “We met and played golf at Bedminster, and his interest is real. My takeaway, he wants to be supportive of college athletics, make sure that it’s sustainable, the Olympic program and the Olympic development.
It's not always easy to predict what the President is going to do and an executive order from the White House would not put an end to the court battles and legislation that is currently on the table. But for the time being it would deternine whether student-athletes are employees or not.
And that would allow the decision makers in college sports to move forward in the short term.