NCAA Transgender Rules in Place

President Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes in sports already has far-reaching implications

February 7, 2025

NCAA Changes Transgender Policy to Limit Women’s Competition to Athletes Assigned Female at Birth
The NCAA officially changed its participation policy for transgender athletes on Thursday, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth. The policy change is effective immediately and applies to all athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews. The NCAA has some 1,100 member schools with more than 500,000 athletes, easily the largest governing body for college athletics in the U.S.

The move came one day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. The order gives federal agencies latitude to withhold federal funding from entities that do not abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.
^{AP News}

SEC Reports $808.4 Million in Revenue Sharing for 2023-24, Boosted by Texas and Oklahoma Additions
The Athletic’s Seth Emerson reports: “The SEC saw a healthy jump in revenue in the 2023-24 fiscal year, even before Oklahoma and Texas joined the conference, which commissioner Greg Sankey said will leave its schools ‘uniquely positioned’ for revenue sharing with athletes. The conference announced Thursday that it was distributing $808.4 million to its schools for the 2023-24 fiscal year, an increase over the $741 million distributed in 2022-23.”
^{The Athletic}

In “You Can’t Make This Up” News… 👇🏼

Heat’s Pat Riley, Chiefs Discuss Possible ‘Three-peat’ License
The staff at Sportico write, “Miami Heat president and minority owner Pat Riley could see his wealth expand if the Kansas City Chiefs, who won Super Bowls 2023 and 2024, defeat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday and become the first team to pull off a Super Bowl ‘three-peat.’

“Riley famously trademarked the term more than three decades ago and controls the commercial rights for use of the phrase. Sportico has learned that the Chiefs are in discussions with Riley’s team on a license for three-peat. If a deal is reached, the Chiefs would pass rights through to a handful of companies—Fanatics, New Era, Wilson, Riddell and Wincraft—to make products.”
^Sportico

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Says Some Fans Concerned Over Lack of Salary Cap
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says he is getting emails from fans concerned over the sport’s lack of a salary cap following an offseason spending spree by the Los Angeles Dodgers that sparked increased attention over the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement in December 2027.

Baseball’s biggest spender in 2024 won the World Series: The Dodgers had a $353 million luxury tax payroll and had to pay a $103 million tax. The Athletics had the lowest luxury tax payroll at just under $84 million.
^{AP News}

UFC Settles Antitrust Lawsuit Filed By Former Fighters For $375 Million
An initial agreement for $335 million was settled between UFC and the fighters in March 2024. Yet Nevada Judge Richard Boulware rejected that proposal because it combined two individual lawsuits into one agreement. The case consisted of two class action suits. The first was from a class led by Le that covered fighters from 2010 to 2017. The other, headed by Kajan Johnson, represented fighters who had been under contract since 2017.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

Greg Olsen: Fox Relationship Is Positive, But ‘My Aspirations Have Not Changed’
FOS’ Michael McCarthy writes, “Greg Olsen told Front Office Sports on Thursday his comments to the Charlotte Observer about wanting to call great games have been ‘manipulated and misconstrued.’ He says he’s grateful for the opportunities given him by Fox. At the same time, he is not retreating or apologizing for wanting to be the top dog.”
^{Front Office Sports}

If ESPN Opts Out of TV Deal, MLB Warns It Could Walk Away: Source
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand and Evan Drellich write, “Major League Baseball is warning that it could walk away from ESPN if the network opts out of their national TV deal next month. After four decades of partnership, a new deal with ESPN would be unlikely following an opt out, a person briefed on the league’s thinking who was not authorized to speak publicly said Thursday.

“ESPN, which is carrying Sunday Night Baseball for a 36th season this year, is locked in as baseball’s partner for 2025 either way. To be determined is the fate of the final three years of the seven-year contract, the 2026-28 seasons.”
^{The Athletic}

Ryan Grubb Rejoins Kalen DeBoer By Taking Over as Alabama’s Offensive Coordinator
Ryan Grubb is reuniting with Kalen DeBoer as Alabama’s offensive coordinator after they worked together to get Washington to a College Football Playoff championship game. Alabama announced Thursday that Grubb had joined DeBoer’s staff. Grubb had been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on DeBoer’s Washington staff from 2022-23.
^{AP News}

Rick Spielman Says He’ll Work in Jets’ Front Office After Helping Them Find Their New Coach and GM
Rick Spielman helped the New York Jets find their new coach and general manager. Now, he’ll be part of their revamped front office. The former Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins general manager announced on his CBS Sports podcast Thursday that he’ll serve as the team’s senior football adviser.
^{AP News}

San Jose State and Penn Face Inquiries in Trump Crackdown on Transgender Athletes
The Trump administration is investigating potential civil rights violations at two universities and a high school sports league that allowed transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams, the Education Department said Thursday. The agency is opening reviews of San Jose State University volleyball, the University of Pennsylvania’s swimming program and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
^{Yahoo! Sports}

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