Donald Trump’s Secret NIL Strategy Unveiled After Private Meeting with Nick Saban—What Could It Mean?

When former Alabama head coach Nick Saban walked into the room with President Donald Trump this past Thursday, I can’t help but wonder—was it just another handshake or the opening salvo in a new game-changing chapter for college sports? Trump, fresh off delivering a commencement address at the University of Alabama, found himself confronted with the dizzying explosion of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money flooding the NCAA landscape—something even a seven-time national champion like Saban is seemingly concerned about. Since 2021, we’ve watched NIL skyrocket from a modest $917 million marketplace to a staggering estimated $1.67 billion for 2024-25, possibly topping $2.5 billion soon after! That’s jaw-dropping cash circulating around college athletes who, until recently, couldn’t dream of making such figures legally. And now? The White House might be ready to crank up the heat with an executive order to scrutinize these payments more closely. Is this the moment where politics and college sports collide in a way nobody saw coming—or just another curveball in an already unpredictable season? Buckle up, this could get very interesting. LEARN MORE.

President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, gave a commencement address to graduate students at the University of Alabama on Thursday. During this time, the sitting president met with former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. Reports indicate that during their conversation, Saban may have persuaded Trump into taking a deeper look at the NIL era taking over the NCAA.

After meeting with Saban, the Donald Trump administration is legitimately considering stepping in to “increase scrutiny” around the NIL payments being made to college athletes across the nation, according to Josh Dawsey, Rachel Bachman, and Laine Higgins of The Washington Journal. Based on the information at hand, it appears the seven-time championship-winning former head coach is concerned about the future of college sports due to the present state of the NIL era in the NCAA.

“The Trump administration is considering an executive order that could increase scrutiny of the explosion in payments to college athletes since 2021, after the president met with former Alabama coach Nick Saban, White House officials said.”

In 2021, when NIL became legal, the estimated market was right around $917 million for all college sports. Since then, it has significantly grown. The 2024-25 college sports season is estimated for the NIL market to reach $1.67 billion, per Opendorse. There’s even a possibility that the number could exceed $2.5 billion by the end of 2025.

“Since July 1, 2021, the total projected NIL market has exploded from $917 million in 2021-22 to an expected $1.67 billion in 2024-25, with no signs of slowing down… Early projections point to the total NIL market exceeding $2.5 billion in the first year of revenue sharing.”

The continuation of NIL raising each year could be why Donald Trump felt the need to at least listen to Nick Saban. If this trend continues, there is no telling how high it could reach. It’s a bizarre amount of money being spent on college students who were unable to obtain this kind of revenue before 2021.

Some of the projected top earners of NIL include Texas quarterback Arch Manning ($6.7 million), former USC Trojans guard Bronny James ($5.9 million), and Duke forward Cooper Flagg ($4.8 million).

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