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Dan Murphy
Multiple Authors
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools.
The order states that college athletes can play a maximum of five seasons during a five-year window and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect on August 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn’t meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.
“College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules concerning pay-for-play and player eligibility that can’t be endlessly challenged in court, as is the case now,” the White House said in a press release about the order.
Multiple lawyers who work with colleges and their athletes told ESPN they believe that judges would rule the president’s order to be unconstitutional and unenforceable if challenged in court.
NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement that the order was a “significant step forward,” but stability in college sports will also require a more permanent solution in the form of a new law enacted by Congress.
Trump acknowledged that his administration would likely be sued when he first mentioned his plans for an executive order during a roundtable with college sports leaders in early March. Trump has used the threat of pulling federal funds from universities as a negotiating tactic and as an effort to enforce other policies during his second term, with mixed success. In September, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from Harvard as punishment for the university’s decision not to comply with an executive order related to alleged antisemitic behavior on campus.
The immediate uncertainty the new order creates, however, could dissuade some athletes from transferring when the basketball transfer portal opens next week.
Trump has expressed interest in helping the college sports industry find its balance multiple times in the past year. Several dozen college sports leaders joined Trump and other sports executives at the White House roundtable discussion in early March in search of a way for the federal government to restore some power to the NCAA and its schools. Trump said at that meeting that he intended to write an executive order within a week that would “solve every problem in this room.”
The NCAA has struggled to enforce its rules since a Supreme Court decision in 2021 made clear that the organization was not exempt from antitrust laws, which prevent any group of businesses from colluding to limit the earning potential of their labor market.
Since then, the organization has changed its rules to allow athletes to transfer every year and has had mixed results in fighting dozens of lawsuits filed by athletes who wanted to continue playing after their eligibility expired. Current NCAA rules allow athletes to play four seasons during a five-year window.
Friday’s order is the second attempt from the Trump administration to use its executive power to create some change in college sports. His first order, signed in July 2025, did not have any notable impact on how the industry is governed. Multiple college sports stakeholders told ESPN they hope the new order serves as a powerful signal to Congress, which has the ability to provide more meaningful and durable change.
After more than five years of discussing options and proposing bills, neither the U.S. House or Senate has held a full vote on any legislation related to college sports. The House has twice delayed a vote on a bill known as the SCORE Act since September. Sources told ESPN this week that the bill could be amended and reintroduced at some point in April.
In the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell are actively negotiating in hopes of producing a bipartisan bill this spring, according to sources on Capitol Hill. Cruz told ESPN earlier this year it was “absolutely critical” that new legislation include language that would prevent college athletes from being deemed employees of their school. Several Democrats believe employment and collective bargaining is the best route to finding a sustainable future for college sports. Sources said the employment debate remains as one of the largest obstacles to reaching a compromise.
The president’s executive order does not address employment or other major unresolved issues in college sports, such as a push from Cantwell to reshape how schools share the revenue from their television contracts.
