NCAA agrees to settlement; universities to pay players

In a giant result coming down from the NCAA today, all power conferences as well as the NCAA have agreed to allow universities to pay players directly for the first time in NCAA history.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Dan Murphy, the NCAA is planning on settling three massive federal antitrust cases resulting in a payout of $2.7 billion in damages over the course of ten years to current and former athletes. In addition, this rule comes with a model that allows for universities to use $20 million of their revenue to directly pay athletes. Revenue sharing will more than likely begin in 2025.

The full settlement states that all athletes who played NCAA sports starting back in 2016 are eligible to receive a share, as long as they don’t sue the NCAA for other antitrust violations and remove themselves from House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA, three major cases. The settlement doesn’t mention Fontenot vs. NCAA, which seeks part of the television revenue that universities receive.

While this is a major step for both athletes and the NCAA, this doesn’t bring them out of the woods yet. Athletes are still not considered employees and have no collective bargaining power in that case. However, this is a massive moment for college sports, giving back money that is rightfully owed to the athletes who have participated in collegiate sports.