Trump’s College Sports Roundtable Includes No College Athletes

Next week, President Donald Trump is set to host a roundtable to discuss the future of college sports. But no current college athletes were invited to participate, according to a list of invitees obtained by Front Office Sports. 

The list is subject to change. But it offers a window into the type of group Trump hoped to assemble to discuss issues plaguing college sports. 

It contains more than two dozen athletic directors, university presidents, commissioners, current and former politicians, professional athletes, business executives, and professional sports executives.

The roundtable will take place amid a major debate about the future of college sports; any legislation could impact athletes. Currently, players can receive revenue-sharing directly from schools in addition to NIL opportunities, thanks to the House v. NCAA settlement. They can transfer an unlimited number of times without penalty thanks to another federal court decision. Dozens of athletes have also attempted to challenge the NCAA’s eligibility rules, though the NCAA has prevailed in many of these cases. 

The NCAA and power conferences are currently asking for a bill in Congress that would give them the power to preempt any state laws governing college sports and antitrust immunity to enforce rules around transferring and eligibility. 

In the pros, many of these issues—especially related to compensation and player movement—are negotiated through collective bargaining agreements between players’ unions and leagues. But while the NCAA does have a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, there’s no athlete union in college sports. The NCAA and power conferences are also lobbying for a bill that would prevent athletes from being employees, and therefore leave them unable to unionize.  

And now, college athletes are not on the invite list for Trump’s roundtable.

Yahoo Sports first reported the news of the event. A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Here is a list of known invitees so far:

Athletes and coaches

• Tiger Woods
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Nick Saban
• Mack Brown
• Tim Tebow
• Charlie Ward
• Urban Meyer
• Tony Dungy

Pro sports executives

• NBA commissioner Adam Silver
• New York Yankees president Randy Levine
• New England Patriots president Jonathan Kraft
• Ex–New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello

College sports leaders

• All four power conference commissioners
• Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez
• American conference commissioner Tim Pernetti
• NCAA president Charlie Baker
• Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione (Castiglione is retiring)
• Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson
• Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard
• Wake Forest athletic director John Currie
• Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua

University leaders

• Texas Tech board chair and Trump advisor Cody Campbell 
• Former Clemson president Jim Clements
• Tennessee president Donde Plowman
• University of Nebraska system president Jeff Gold
• Kansas chancellor Doug Girod

Politicians

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
• Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
• Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn

Media and private-equity executives 

• Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks
• ESPN chairperson Jimmy Pitaro
• RedBird Capital Partners founder Gerry Cardinale
• Blackstone chairman and pro sports owner David Blitzer
• Sports industry executive Marc Ganis

More invites may go out, as the current list is not final. And given Trump’s ever-changing schedule due to current events, it’s always possible the event could be postponed or canceled. But as of now, current college athletes will not have a seat at this roundtable.

Editors’ note: RedBird IMI, in which RedBird Capital Partners is a joint venture partner, is the primary investor in Front Office Sports.