White House college sports roundtable still on despite global tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump has called for a presidential roundtable on college sports for this Friday in Washington, D.C., with over 30 stakeholders and celebrities expected to attend. Sources tell On3 as of Monday that the roundtable is still scheduled as of now, although they cautioned that the odds of it happening this week are 50-50 at best.

The roundtable is planned amid heightened global tensions following recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran. Sources have expressed skepticism that the meeting will happen, as White House scheduling is often fluid, and meetings can be delayed or canceled on short notice.

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Trump is serving as chair of the roundtable, with vice chairs Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and New York Yankees president Randy Levine. The college sports roundtable is expected to hold a discussion around the evolving landscape of college sports, ranging from the transfer portal to revenue sharing to enforcement.

Sources have told On3 that phone calls have been held in recent days to plan for the meetings. Among the invitees to the roundtable are SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, American commissioner Tim Pernetti, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez and NCAA president Charlie Baker.

The group includes former Alabama coach Nick Saban, former Florida star Tim Tebow and Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell. Other prominent figures from outside college sports were also invited, including golfers Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Late last year, Trump addressed the state of college sports, particularly the amount of money schools are paying athletes. He also doubled down on his willingness to step in, if necessary.

“You’re going to have these colleges wipe themselves out, and something ought to be done,” Trump said. “And I’m willing to put the federal government behind it. But if it’s not done fast, you’re going to wipe out colleges. They’re going to get wiped out, including ones that do well in football.

“They can’t pay $12 million, $14 million, $10 million, $6 million for players. They won’t be able to stop. There’ll always be that one player, they only have that player, they’re going to win the national championship. And they’ll have 100 colleges thinking the same thing. Colleges cannot afford to play this game. It’s a very bad thing that’s happening.”