White House pausing plans for President Donald Trump's commission on college sports

Earlier this month, Yahoo! Sports reporter Ross Dellenger reported that President Donald Trump planned on forming a presidential commission on college athletics. Now, Trump is reportedly putting his plans on pause. On3’s Pete Nakos provided more information on Trump’s decision.

“Donald Trump’s presidential commission on college sports has been paused,” Nakos wrote on X. “Expectation is commission will eventually be formed, but is being delayed as U.S. Senator Ted Cruz works to push through federal legislation.”

Trump’s commission was expected to specifically examine the role of NIL in college athletics. Dellenger’s initial report surfaced after Trump met with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa and discussed the issue of NIL.

Saban and Texas Tech booster and billionaire Cody Campbell were expected to be co-chairs of the commission. However, since Dellenger’s report, Saban has clarified that he doesn’t believe forming a commission is the best move.

“I know there’s been a lot of stuff out there about some commission or whatever,” Saban said. “I don’t think we need a commission. I’ve said that before. I think we know what the issues are, we just have to have people that are willing to move those and solve those, create some solutions for some of those issues.”

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has spearheaded Congress’ efforts to build federal legislation around NIL in college athletics. While Cruz has reportedly pushed for Trump to wait on forming the commission, Nakos reports that “Cody Campbell will continue to work behind the scenes for when the presidential commission is ready to move forward.”

It was previously reported that the commission had talked to each of the commissioners of the Power Four conferences. Moreover, Power Four sources told On3 that they were surprised by how quickly the commission was being formed.

If the commission on college sports follows the path of other presidential commissions, it would produce a report with potential solutions that Trump or Congress could act on. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was exploring executive order options focused on NIL and college sports.

Now, it appears Trump will wait before taking any executive action on college athletics. He isn’t the only one on standby. The House v. NCAA settlement is yet to earn final approval from Judge Claudia Ann Wilken. Wilken’s approval would dramatically alter the future of NIL’s role in college athletics and usher in the era of revenue sharing.