How will Trump work with global sports leaders?
When Donald Trump re-enters the Oval Office, there will be an awful lot of people in the global sports world wondering what is going to happen next. President-elect Trump has antagonized America’s two 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup partners, Canada and Mexico although the Trump talk may be nothing more than bluster. Then there is the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. In Switzerland, International Olympic Committee personnel are already fretting about the viability of the Los Angeles Games after the devastating Los Angeles area wildfires. Of course, the IOC is more interested in protecting the five rings than what is actually happening on the ground. Money that might have been earmarked for the Los Angeles sports gala might be re-directed into rescue and recovery and that could have an impact on the Los Angeles event. It would not be surprising to learn that the IOC is quickly developing a Plan B even though the LA event is three and a half years away.
Trump might be able to jawbone Republicans on Capitol Hill to come up with some sort of federal regulation that would create a uniform college sports names, images and likeness package that could theoretically put a salary cap on college athletes playing football and basketball, the revenue generating college sports. In the previous Trump administration, Trump gave Major League Baseball owners a big victory over the minor league players in 2018 when the Save America’s Pastime Act amended the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act to exempt baseball players from the law’s minimum wage and overtime requirements. MLB pays minor league players’ salaries, something that clearly annoys them. Trump also went along with the three country, the US, Canada and Mexico, bid for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. Power is shifting in Washington and the sports world is watching and waiting.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
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