Colleges Must Swear Oath to Save Sports for Fed Cash
Published Date: 9/11/2026
Notice
Summary
Starting August 1, 2026, colleges and universities registered in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) must annually certify they follow the new rules from Executive Order 14400, aimed at saving college sports. This means schools need to confirm compliance to keep getting federal contracts and grants. The government is asking for public comments by October 13, 2026, to finalize this new requirement.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 1 mixed.
Annual SAM Certification for Colleges
If you run a college or university registered in SAM.gov and identified as a Higher Education Institution, your institution must annually certify compliance with Executive Order 14400. This annual certification applies to institutions that meet the $20M (adjusted for inflation) threshold for intercollegiate athletics activities revenue and begins for agencies to use starting August 1, 2026.
Estimated Administrative Burden
The notice estimates 11,720 respondents with 14,620 total annual responses (11,720 screening responses and 725 certification responses). It lists 0.25 hours per screening response and 0.5 hours per certification response and shows total burden hours labeled as $181,584.50 (broken down as $161,589.50 for screening and $19,995.50 for certification).
$20M Athletics Revenue Threshold Applies
Registered Higher Education Institutions that meet the $20M (adjusted for inflation) threshold for intercollegiate athletics activities revenue are required to provide the annual certification; the notice directs institutions to calculate the $20M athletics revenue per the guidance in Executive Order 14400 Section 3.
Certification Data Accessible to Federal Agencies
SAM.gov certification information will be available for all Federal officials and agencies to access and utilize as needed for contract and grantmaking activities. The notice states SAM.gov data is available for all federal agencies to access and utilize as needed for their agency mission.
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