For the first time in the history of college sports, the NCAA has agreed to allow the five power conferences to directly pay players, according to ESPN.
ESPN learned that the NCAA and the conferences are planning to move forward with a “multibillion-dollar agreement to settle three pending federal antitrust cases,” where the organization will “pay more than $2.7 billion in damages over 10 years to past and current athletes.”
There has also reportedly been an agreement on a revenue-sharing plan, which would allow each school to share up to around $20 million per year with athletes.
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The Power Five conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12 — all voted to accept the general terms of the agreement with the NCAA.
For those Division I athletes, dating back to 2016, wishing to receive a share of the settlement, they are not allowed to sue the NCAA for other antitrust violations. And if they’re a part of House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA or Carter v. NCAA, they must drop their complaints. ESPN adds that revenue sharing will likely start in the fall of 2025.
This may just be the beginning of how college sports are evolving in front of everyone’s eyes, as there are still other legal issues and the desire to either become employees or collectively bargain in the future.
“We recognize that we’re just on the front end of this entire process,” Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman, who serves as the chair of the NCAA’s Division I Council, said via ESPN. “There’s a lot to be sorted out as we try to really wrap our arms around some of the details that we’re putting in place now.”
Judge Claudia Wilken, who is presiding over the three cases against the NCAA, will reportedly be alerted by the parties involved with final details in court over the next 30 days.
Now, Judge Wilken can reject the settlement terms, antitrust attorneys tell ESPN, or athletes could opt out and join another pending antitrust case.
If she does approve of the details, Steve Berman, who is co-lead counsel for the athletes involved in the antitrust lawsuits along with Jeffery Kessler, told ESPN that a website will created and sent as a notice to all players explaining their options – whether they want to remain in class, or opt out.
Berman said there are more than 10,000 former and current athletes attached to the $2.7 billion in damages that will be going out. A sports economist has put together a “series of formulas” that will determine how the money is split up.
With NIL and the transfer portal creating a free-for-all of who can pay the most for student-athletes today, athletic directors also told ESPN they are “hopeful the settlement lays the groundwork for a system where success on the field is less dependent on which schools can spend the most money.”
“I think we have a chance right now to really reshape the model in the most meaningful way of any of our lifetimes, and maybe the most meaningful way there has ever been,” Whitman noted, via ESPN.
There are still questions that need answering regarding the future of college sports, but this first-of-its-kind agreement could be the foundation for schools to regain control of college sports once again.
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