Why Is the Government So Involved in Sports Now?

• Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said LSU athletic director would have no part in picking a new head coach for the football team.
• President Donald Trump has also been involved in the sporting world, claiming he could get FIFA to move cities for the 2026 World Cup.
• It leads to the question: why is the government so involved in sports recently?

The American government has had their hands in the sporting world lately. The Louisiana governor has decided that LSU’s athletic director wouldn’t be allowed to pick the next football coach.

President Donald Trump has also made a few claims pertaining to the sports world. Why is the government so involved in sports now?

Landry Limits Woodward’s Job; Trump Wants to Move World Cup Cities

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry remarked on October 29 that LSU athletic director Scott Woodward wouldn’t be allowed to select the school’s new football coach.

LSU, whose college football championship odds were decent to start the season, fired Brian Kelly on Sunday after the Tigers were routed 49-25 at home by Texas A&M on Saturday. Landry met with a group of people at the governor’s mansion on Sunday to figure out how to navigate Kelly’s buyout, which is $53 million. The two sides are still in negotiations over the situation.

Landry said to reporters:

"Maybe we'll let President Trump pick it. He loves winners. You know, I'm not going to be picking the next coach, but I can promise you we're gonna pick a coach and we're gonna make sure that that coach is successful. We're gonna make sure that he's compensated properly, and we're gonna put metrics on it because I'm tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill."

Speaking of the president, Trump said earlier this month that he would consider moving games for next year’s World Cup from cities he deems, “unsafe”. He would have to talk to FIFA president Gianni Infantino about it, but Trump claims Infantino would do what he wanted, “very easily”. Many of the cities Trump is talking about are Democrat-led cities, such as Boston. 

Will the Government Back off Their Sporting Involvement?

These two situations are similar, but different. At first glance, it would seem like Landry doesn’t have the power to keep Woodward from doing his job. However, LSU is a public school, which means its financial records are open.

They would have to account for the $53 million buyout. Who is paying that: boosters, or taxpayers? That remains to be seen. It seems like somehow, some way, taxpayers will have to foot some of the bill, one way or another. But with LSU being a public school, it would be easy to see why Landry would make those comments. Now, whether he has the full authority to do so, we’ll see. This has also been going on in college sports for a long time.

In Trump’s case, it seems like he’s using political power to be involved in the sports world. Again, it’s not known if he has the authority; it would seem that would be up to Infantino. However, the FIFA president is rather friendly with Trump, so it’s simple to see why Trump thinks this would be easy.

However, this isn’t moving a Friday night football game across town; this is the World Cup. There are a lot of moving logistical pieces to consider, and there will be pushback. He also said he could get the Olympics moved from Los Angeles in 2028, but it would be almost impossible.

But the short answer is no, the government won’t stop getting involved in sports. This is probably only the beginning. There is too much money and power involved now for it to go back to what it was.