College sports is heading towards some massive changes. Just days after meeting with Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for a closed-door session at his West Palm Beach property, President Donald Trump is now bringing a star-studded panel together to address major flaws in college sports.

Hosting a presidential roundtable of more than three dozen college sports celebrities next Friday at the White House, Trump is looking to discuss the future of college sports. The list includes pro golfer Tiger Woods, former college football coaches Nick Saban and Urban Meyer, Heisman winners Tim Tebow and Charlie Ward, Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell, and businessmen David Blitzer, Marc Ganis, and Gerry Cardinale, among the overall 40 invitees.

The people who shared this information with Yahoo Sports cannot reveal their names because the details of the meeting are confidential, and many guests received their invitations late. The group is called the “Saving College Sports Roundtable,” and it will discuss how to address problems in college sports amid constantly changing rules.

Trump will lead the meeting along with Ron DeSantis and the president of the New York Yankees baseball club, Randy Levine. For months, he has been trying to protect college sports from lawsuits and wants to bring stability. This can be the first major step towards it.

Donald Trump has been vocal about the chaos NIL is bringing to college sports. He even took a major step to stop the pay-to-play tradition. In this, players can earn money from NIL, but it aims to stop the involvement of outside groups that secretly pay players just to get on board. Just take Michigan’s example, where Dave Portnoy gave $10.5 million to sign Bryce Underwood.

Last July, Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at what he calls “saving college sports.” The order sought to protect the foundation of college athletics, with measures to safeguard scholarships for non-revenue sports. There was also an attempt to demarcate between ‘pay-for-play’ schemes, and allowing athletes to benefit from legitimate NIL deals.

Trump also went golfing in the early days of February with Saban and Meyer to try and find solutions for the issues in college athletics. The President has even spoken about choosing Saban to lead a Presidential Commission to study the impact of NIL and find solutions for some stability in college sports.

“I think the NIL is a disaster for sports. It’s horrible for the Olympics, and I think it’s actually horrible for the players,” Trump said. “Those sports don’t exist because they’re putting all their money into football, and by the way, they’re putting too much money into football.”

The idea mainly centers on how new rules are affecting the programs. Teams with big money spend a lot, but smaller programs find it hard to even share the revenue with the players. That’s what creates a rift among the teams as they are forced to spend more and end up in deficit. Then some of them want players to become employees; others want them to stay as non-employees but be allowed to ask for better deals.

Then comes the TV deals, where Texas Tech’s Cody Campbell wants to change the Sports Broadcasting Act so that all conferences can combine their TV deals and earn more. He wants to reduce the gap between the SEC, Big Ten, and other programs. But both of them disagreed with the idea, calling it “misguided.”

However, the issues don’t just stop at that.

Donald Trump’s move can save college football from misery

The problems don’t just stop at money factors. JUCO players challenging eligibility limits set by the NCAA is also causing major trouble in college sports. It all started with Diego Pavia, who sued the NCAA in 2024 to get one more year of eligibility; the same was the case with Joey Aguilar, who is trying to get eight years. Even Trinidad Chambliss won his case and will play for one last time for Ole Miss.

All this brings instability to the sport. Then comes the tampering problem. Players stay in contact with other teams and make moves with better deals. That’s what Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney faced when Miami contacted their linebacker Luke Ferrelli. Transfer portal timelines getting mixed up with the championship games is another factor that’s ruining college football.

Then came the cases of Demond Williams and Darian Mensah where poaching and breach of contract were alleged by their programs. Though the courts helped settle both cases, it is still a problem that needs some permanent solutions.

To put it all in perspective, college sports is currently an unregulated mess with the NCAA running toothless after the court systems in various states. Federal intervention appears as the only way through.