Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much, everybody, please. This is a very important meeting. We have a lot of important meetings today, but this is a big one because this is really the future of -- I think beyond college sports, this is the future of colleges, because we're looking at numbers that are coming in and the amount of money being spent and lost by otherwise very successful schools is astounding, just in a short period of time.
It's only going to get worse. So we have to save college sports and save, I believe, colleges. Uh, we have to save our Olympic team because so many sports that are in the Olympics will no longer be represented by people that went through college and became competitive, became great at the sport. We won't be anywhere near what we were.
I think it's just a very, very important meeting. We have the most important people in college sports and really beyond -- beyond. And, uh, what I'd like to do is I'll say a few words. I'm going to ask, uh, Marco and a few to also say a few words, and I'd like to take your suggestions. And we have the speaker.
We have, uh, John Thune is here, or represented. We have some of the big politicians, Senators, Congress people, people that can make it get, get approved because we -- ultimately, we have to go through -- I guess we have to go through do an executive order. I'd love to do that. I'll probably do it anyway.
We'll do an executive order. We'll see how it works, because it would be a really nice -- I have a really nice, simple idea. But we'll go through this process and maybe, I think we'll get it through Congress. We have a good chance. I think it will be very bipartisan. And I just want to thank you all for being here, as we stand up for one of America's greatest and most beloved institutions.
It's called college athletics, which is true. It means so much. I want to thank Secretaries Marco Rubio, Scott Bessent, Doug Burgum, Howard Lutnick, Linda McMahon for being here; and also speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, doing a great job. Governor Ron DeSantis, Senators Ted Cruz, Eric Schmidt, Leader Steve Scalise, Representatives Lisa McLain, Jim Jordan, Brett Guthrie, and Lori Trahan, thank you all for being here.
We have some great people. Condoleezza, thank you very much. I see you over there. Great to have you. Great to be with you. Very special welcome to New York Yankees President, Randy Levine, a friend of mine for a long time. I used to sit with George Steinbrenner in the box. It was one of the most difficult days of my life.
I would always be like -- he liked me, I liked him, but we both liked very few other people and we had a good time and we won a lot of -- a lot of games, right, Randy?
We never lost one.
We never lost, actually. And a great champion of college athletics, former, as I just said, secretary of state, a woman who's really respected, Condoleezza Rice. Thank you very much, again, Condoleezza. And Ron DeSantis has been working very hard with us and wherever you may be, Ron. Hi, Ron, and, uh, has some great ideas and some great coaches that gave him some great ideas.
We're gathered today to discuss an important threat to the integrity and culture of college sports, the inability to set rules on eligibility transfers, name image and likeness and more -- much more than that in the face of endless lawsuits. And it's -- what's going on with the -- the legal community is incredible.
Uh, we had a lawsuit a couple of years ago by a radical left judge from California who decided knowing nothing about football or college sports, that everything was illegal that was taking place. And I don't think it was ever appealed. Nobody can find out if it was appealed or not, but you can win an appeal.