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President Donald Trump will host a White House roundtable on college athletics reform later this week.
The panel is expected to include prominent coaches, college sports and pro sports league commissioners and other professional athletes, according to OutKick.
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 holds a football presented to him during a ceremony to present the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the US Naval Academy football team, the Navy Midshipmen, in the East Room of the White House on April 15, 2025 in Washington, DC (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The meeting on Friday will include big names like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Adam Silver and Tiger Woods. Trump has been adamant about “saving college sports,” even signing an executive order setting new limits on payments to college athletes back in July.
However, ESPN college analyst Paul Finebaum, who has previously hinted at a congressional run as a Republican, remains a bit skeptical.
“The easiest thing, guys, is to just say this is ridiculous,” Finebaum told WJOX’s Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic. “And I read the other day, ‘Why is Nick Saban leaving?’ Why does anyone leave? The bottom line is this. If something doesn’t happen very quickly, and I mean within the next short period of time, we’re talking weeks, not years, this thing could explode.
“However it happened, I’m in favor. The question now becomes, with some of the most powerful people in Washington in the same room, including the most powerful person in the country, can something be done, or is it going to be a circus? Is it going to be just another show?”
United States President Donald Trump shakes hands with former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban as Trump takes the stage to address graduating students at Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump’s order prohibits athletes from receiving pay-to-play payments from third-party sources. However, the order imposed no restrictions on NIL payments to college athletes from third-party sources.
A vote in Parliament on the SCORE (Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements) Act, which would regulate name, image and likeness agreements, was canceled shortly before it was due to be brought up in December.
The White House approved the action, but three Republicans, Byron Donalds, Fla., Scott Perry, Pa., and Chip Roy, Texas, voted with Democrats not to bring the action to the floor. Democrats have largely opposed the bill, urging members of the House to vote “no.”
President Donald Trump looks on before the U.S. Army-Navy college football game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland on December 13, 2025. (Alex WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
The SCORE Act would grant the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the NCAA from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules and would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools. It prohibits schools from using tuition fees to fund NIL payments.
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