Any policies that come from an executive order can be challenged in court and reversed by the next administration, which means college sports continues to operate under a blanket of uncertainty when it comes to defining the relationship between schools and athletes. That’s exactly what college sports leaders are trying to stop.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that aims to prohibit third-party, pay-for-play payments to college athletes, the White House announced. The legislation also directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of student-athletes "in order to preserve non-revenue sports."

The order aims to ban "pay-for-play" NIL deals, mandates scholarships for women's and Olympic sports and threatens to withhold funds from schools who don't comply. But its legality is in question.