United States President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that could have a huge impact on college sports going forward. According to an official statement from the White House, the executive order will restrict pay-for-play arrangements with student athletes while still allowing fair market value compensation from third parties.
Since the executive order was signed, there has been a conversation in the college football community about how “fair market value” is determined. On Friday, a new episode of “Crain & Company” was released. On the show, analyst Jake Crain spoke about how he does not think it is possible to accurately determine fair market value via an algorithm because, to him, fair market value is however much someone is willing to pay you.
“It’s impossible. I don’t care how good your algorithm is,” Jake Crain said (10:30). “If you actually look at the release of this executive order, it talks about determining fair market value through the college sports commission that we’re using now. So, it’s the same thing we talked about. Once that $600 are over, it’s got to go to be processed and authorized. To me, it’s un-American because you’re worth what someone is willing to pay you.
“Your market value changes every day. I use Arch Manning as an example. His market value the day before the Ohio State game and the day after the Ohio State game will be completely different, whether that’s in a good way or in a bad way. So, unless you have some sort of way to deal with that fluctuation, which in reality you shouldn’t because again you’re worth what someone is willing to pay you. I think this is the biggest problem we’re going to run into,” he added.
The Co-Lead Plaintiff in the Antitrust Settlement Speaks Out Against Donald Trump’s Executive Order
The state of player payment and revenue sharing in college sports has been a hot topic of conversation because of the antitrust settlement that was reached in June. This settlement will allow schools to pay up to $20.5 million directly to athletes in the coming academic year.
Steve Berman, one of the co-lead plaintiff attorneys in the antitrust settlement, spoke out against the executive order last week. He talked about how college athletes do not need help from Donald Trump. He does not think that the President should be helping the NCAA at the expense of student-athletes.
Conversely, the NCAA released a statement, expressing its appreciation for the focus the Trump administration has put on college sports.
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