Washington – US President Donald Trump is expected to welcome two of the most influential leaders in university sports on Sunday in his golf course in New Jersey.
Notre Dame’s sports director, Pete Bevacqua, and the SEC commissioner, Greg Sankey, plan to play golf with the president of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster in an invitation which is extended to them by the White House. The three men should discuss the future of university athletics while Trump explores his involvement in the rapidly evolving industry.
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Several sources spoke to Yahoo Sports of the event planned under the guise of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on this subject.
The importance of the meeting cannot be overestimated. He arrives two days after a California judge granted the approval of a historic legal regulation (House) which evolves more university athletics into a more professionalized entity where schools will directly compensate athletes.
The two men participating in Trump’s meeting have significant decision -making power.
Bevacqua chairs one of the most influential and precious sports departments in the country – a school which has become a national leader during the evolution of university sports. Trump is organizing a long -standing relationship with Bevacqua, dating back to his life as a PGA of America. Sankey is described by many as the most influential leader in industry because he manages a conference which, with the Big Ten, is the most precious and successful in the country.
Donald Trump has a certain story with the sports director of Notre-Dame, Pete Bevacqua, on the left, who is seen here in 2015, when Bevacqua was the CEO of PGA of America. (Jeffrey Macmillan for the Washington Post via Getty Images)
(The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The three men should spend prolonged time together beyond their golf cycle while NCAA leaders are looking for aid from Congress and the White House for a federal standard to stabilize and regulate what has become an unruly structure. Trump became interested in problems, even by deeply exploring the possibility of publishing a decree and creating a commission to study the many developments – such as the players’ movement in the transfer portal, compensation supported by athletes booster and the impact on women and Olympic sports.
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Such a meeting on Sunday could trigger measures of the White House, or perhaps accelerate the negotiations of the congress on university sports legislation. Five American senators – three Democrats and two Republicans – have organized regular meetings on a federal university sports bill in recent months. However, these discussions have been slowed recently by occurring obstacles with the concepts of invoice as well as global and national problems unrelated to university athletics.
Trump’s involvement in university sports is serious enough began the creation of a presidential committee And even chose a president of the group, the businessman of Texas Cody Campbell. However, in part in order to have no impact on the Senate negotiations, the work of the Commission was interrupted two weeks ago.
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For more than five years, college chiefs have spent millions of dollars in a lobbying effort in Capitol Hill while they are looking for legislation that considers students of athletes, not employees; Prepulates the laws of the zero state; And offers protection to the NCAA and power leagues to enforce the rules without judicial dispute. Next week, the 13th audience of the Congress linked to university sports will take place – that of the members of a subgroup of the Chamber Energy and Trade Committee. A new invoice from the room should also be presented next week.
Trump’s golf release on Sunday arrives at a divided moment, not only within the congress but in university athletics. The disagreements persist between the administrators of the power conference on an assortment of problems – the transfer portal, the playoffs of university football and even the concept of collective negotiation with athletes. Many athletes’ defense groups, university sports lawyers and those in sport itself believe that the colony of the house will leave many unresolved problems, will in itself arouse dozens of legal challenges and must be targeted to negotiate athletes, a bit like professional sports.