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The college athletics reform debate is heading to Washington.
President Donald Trump will host a White House roundtable next week, Pakinomist Digital has confirmed. The panel is expected to include prominent coaches, college sports and pro sports league commissioners and other professional athletes, according to multiple reports.
The group will meet March 6 to explore solutions to key challenges, including NCAA authority; name, image and likeness (NIL) problems; collective bargaining; and managerial concerns.
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President Donald Trump before a college football game between the U.S. Army and Navy at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on December 13, 2025. (Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump is expected to lead the discussions on the issues raised by the roundtable. College sports leaders have yet to craft a comprehensive solution to the major challenges facing collegiate athletics.
The NCAA’s authority has come under scrutiny in recent years on the back of numerous court decisions. The rise of name, image and likeness has transformed college athletics and intensified the debate over amateurism for student-athletes.
The gap between schools competing in power conferences and smaller universities playing in the Group of Six conferences has only seemed to widen over the past several years. The Big 10, Big 12, SEC and ACC hold or are in negotiations for massive media rights contracts that significantly outnumber smaller conferences.
The NCAA logo outside NCAA headquarters Feb. 28, 2023 in Indianapolis. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
There have been calls for the US Congress to step in and establish a national framework to create more stable rules of the game. However, no proposal has emerged that can effectively solve the problem.
According to Yahoo Sports, the list of panelists includes Tiger Woods, former Alabama coach Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. However, the list can be changed, sources tell The Athletic.
LSU Shreveport baseball coach Brad Neffendorf, center right, President Donald Trump and Louisiana State University baseball coach Jay Johnson during a celebration for the LSU Tigers and LSU Shreveport Pilots baseball champions in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, October 20, 2025. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump’s interest in college sports has carried into his second term, highlighted by his participation in last month’s College Football Playoff national championship game between Indiana and Miami. Trump was also on hand for the annual Army-Navy battle in December.
In July 2025, the president signed an executive order, “Saving College Sports”, directing federal agencies to review antitrust protections for the NCAA and conferences and oversight of third-party name, image and likeness payments.
The order led to no binding changes, signaling that any effective reform would likely require congressional action. Trump also considered a presidential commission with Saban as chairman, though the plan was eventually tabled.
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