President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that could change how college sports are run across the country, including South Florida. The order aims to limit “pay-for-play” deals and protect scholarships in non-revenue sports like swimming, soccer and track. It requires schools that make more than $50 million a year in athletic revenue to keep their current scholarship levels and those making over $125 million to increase them.
In a CNN interview, Iowa Athletics Director Beth Goetz explained that under the new rules allowing college athletes to be paid, the university is using Venmo and PayPal to distribute payments through a Big Ten contract.
“Our first set of payments to a portion of our athletes were distributed on July 1 with virtually no concern,” said Goetz.
Goetz also spoke about how the money is split between sports.
“It’s really a collaborative decision,” said Goetz and explains that they looked at “who and which sports are generating the most revenue.”
This could impact how South Florida schools like Florida International University or University of Miami decide where money goes, especially when balancing popular sports like football with others that don’t bring in as much income. As schools adjust to new rules and expectations, the future of college athletics in South Florida may depend on how well these programs can support all athletes not just the ones who bring in the most money.
