President Donald Trump’s new administration has revoked guidance from President Biden’s administration that would have required name, image, and likeness payments for college athletes to be evenly distributed between men and women.
The United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced on Wednesday that it had rescinded a nine-page document from the Biden administration that provided guidance on NIL payments. The Trump government described the Title IX guidance an “11th-hour” push in the “final days” of the Biden administration.
Under the Biden administration, NIL payments — which can include donations, endorsements, or likeness deals for entire NCAA football programs — would have to be distributed evenly among men’s and women’s sports. For example, if Ohio State football made $100 million, the money would likely have to be split with any or all of the school’s female athletic programs.
‘Overly burdensome, profoundly unfair.’
At this point, most major college sports programs work with a collective so that the entire roster can earn revenue from fan donations or group endorsement deals, in addition to individual players who have their own likeness deals or sponsorships. This would essentially mean that schools whose female athletic programs generate little to no income would still be required to give out payments “proportionately” or face possible Title IX violations.
“The NIL guidance, rammed through by the Biden administration in its final days, is overly burdensome, profoundly unfair, and it goes well beyond what agency guidance is intended to achieve,” Craig Trainor, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in press in release.
He continued, “Without a credible legal justification, the Biden administration claimed that NIL agreements between schools and student athletes are akin to financial aid and must, therefore, be proportionately distributed between male and female athletes under Title IX.”
Trainor went on to say that in the more than 50 years of Title IX’s existence, there has been no interpretation that included how revenue generation should be allocated as compensation to student athletes.
“The claim that Title IX forces schools and colleges to distribute student athlete revenues proportionately based on gender equity considerations is sweeping and would require clear legal authority to support it. That does not exist,” Trainor added.
It is important to note that student athletes in the NCAA were not able to receive money for their likeness until 2021 and certainly were never allowed to be paid by their schools.
President Trump has previously discredited the idea that pay should be equitable between men’s and women’s sports. He said in November 2024 that the idea “sounds unfair,” particularly in cases where contracts had already been agreed upon.
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