How College Sports EO Raises Stakes, Casts Uncertainty

Manatt Entertainment Partners and co-authored an article for Law360 on the implications of President Trump's April 3 executive order directing federal action to reform college athletics.

Brown and Meller analyzed the executive order's two-track approach, which directs the NCAA to adopt new rules by August 1, 2026, while enforcing institutional compliance by threatening to withhold federal grant and contract eligibility. The authors highlighted a critical gap: the order cannot provide an antitrust safe harbor, leaving any new NCAA rules vulnerable to cases like NCAA v. Alston that treat those rules as restraints on trade subject to antitrust law. Until Congress acts, they warn, institutions will struggle to comply with the conflicting obligations created by the patchwork quilt of state laws, court decisions and the executive order.

“This executive order raises the stakes without necessarily resolving the underlying legal conflict. Until Congress acts, college athletics will remain governed by an unstable balance between executive pressure and judicial authority, and the institutions, athletes, collectives and investors operating within that system will bear the cost of the uncertainty,” wrote Brown and Meller.

Manatt law clerk contributed to this article.

Law360 subscribers can read the full article .