President Donald Trump is planning to attend the Texas vs. Tennessee college football game this Saturday, the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
The president’s appearance at the sports event comes as he continues pushing Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act.
News of Trump’s visit was reported by OutKick founder Clay Travis, who knocked a report for neglecting to mention his involvement in getting the scoop.
“I’ve gotten used to it, but this is still so dirty of [the New York Times] and [the Athletic],” Travis posted on X. “The White House confirmed my report that President Trump is going to Texas-Tennessee to the NYT. But they only asked about it because of my Tweet. Yet no mention of me in the article.”
Trump will be stopping by Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, where the Texas Longhorns will play the Tennessee Volunteers, both members of the Southeastern Conference, this weekend. The game is sold out, showing the level of excitement that college football fans have for one of the biggest matchups of the season. The stadium, one of the largest in the world, seats nearly 102,000 people.
The Texas-Tennessee game starts at noon on Saturday. ESPN’s College GameDay, which runs from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, will be providing coverage in Knoxville before kickoff. ESPN declined to comment to CBS Sports on whether Trump will appear on the show.
CRUZ FACES ROWDY CROWD AT COLLEGE GAMEDAY WHILE PROMOTING THE PROTECT COLLEGE SPORTS ACT
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), a co-author of the bipartisan college sports bill, appeared on the ESPN program earlier this month in Austin, Texas, during a college football game.
The Protect College Sports Act is advancing in the Senate for a floor vote soon. Trump urged the upper chamber to “stop grandstanding, and get this done” before lawmakers went on a monthlong recess in August. If passed, the bill would shape the future of college athletics by creating a national standard on name, image, and likeness endorsement deals and transfer rules, among other areas.