The NCAA and the five biggest conferences have approved a settlement worth nearly $2.8 billion, marking a significant step towards a more professional model for college sports.
The plan still needs approval from plaintiffs and a federal judge, but it could change the way college athletes are compensated.
Under the settlement, $2.77 billion in damages will be paid over 10 years to approximately 14,000 former and current college athletes who claim that old NCAA rules prevented them from earning money through endorsements. Figuring out how much each athlete gets will take months and involve attorneys, the judge, and a formula to assess what they are owed.
The settlement also includes a revenue-sharing system that allows schools to commit up to $21 million per year to be paid directly to athletes. The Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and SEC will be making the largest investment going forward. The overall commitment, including damages, is expected to be about $300 million per school (69 in total) over 10 years.
The NCAA will cover 41% of the $2.77 billion total, with the biggest Division I conferences accounting for 24% and the other five major college football conferences covering 10%. Conferences that compete in the second tier of Division I football would cover about 14%, and the non-football D-I conferences would be responsible for 12%.
Many smaller schools are worried about the loss of NCAA money on their budgets.
One change that could have a noticeable impact on the field is a switch from the NCAA’s traditional scholarship limits to using roster size to determine how many athletes a school can have for a particular sport.
This could allow the wealthiest schools to provide financial benefits to even more athletes, potentially giving them a competitive advantage. It could also push schools to be more deliberate in deciding how much to invest in certain sports.
Florida softball coach Tim Walton expressed concern about the potential impact on sports programs, asking, “What’s it going to do to some of the programs that were relying on their conference and the NCAA for the money? What’s that going to do? Are they dropping programs? Are they dropping sports?”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.