With the House settlement’s approval, a thread… The settlement - negotiated by plaintiffs seeking back-NIL pay and NCAA/power leagues - has 3 main parts: 1) $2.8B in back-pay to ex-athletes 2) $20B+ in rev-share to future athletes 3) New roster rules & enforcement arm $2.8B in back-pay: - spread over 10 years - from NCAA + school distribution (NCAA Tournament money) - distribution determined using a formula based on a player’s value - $2.3B goes to P4 FB/MBB players (avg of $120K a player over 10 years) - Back-payments begin soon $20B+ in rev-share over 10 years: - schools must stay under an annual cap determined thru avg of P4 revenue data - 1st-year cap $20.5M per school with escalators to as high as $33M by 2035 - schools are not *required* to share revenue - rev-share to start July 1 More on future rev-share: - schools can distribute revenue at own discretion - most plan to use back-pay formula for distribution: 75-85% FB, 10-15% MBB, 10-15% others - Title IX is not exempt, resulting in certain lawsuits - revenue mostly shared by buying player NIL rights More on future rev-share: - $2.5M of Alston pay counts toward the cap, which is why many schools plan to curtail Alston pay - $2.5M of new scholarship money that a school adds counts toward the cap (look for schools to add more scholarships to women sports to balance Title IX) Roster structure: - schools permitted to scholarship full rosters under new limits - roster limits changed dramatically: in FB, roster is 105 (from 85); MBB is 15 (13); BSB is 34 (11.7) - walk-ons still exist. Most schools will not scholarship full rosters Enforcement arm: - Cap management system: plaintiffs/P4/NCAA to police cap requiring regular school submissions - Clearinghouse (“NIL Go”): a Deloitte-run entity to approve non-school (booster) NIL deals with athletes - Arbitration: neutral arbitrator to hear appeals Opting in/out: - schools have a choice to opt out of settlement terms, thus prohibiting them from sharing revenue - many FCS & basketball-playing leagues will have a mix of opt-outs/opt-ins - there is on-going debate on competition between P4 schools & those that opt-out
Because NIL payments will continue, the $20.5 million cap might not have much meaning. IMO, schools and collectives will figure out how to follow the letter with "NIL Go" clearinghouse reviews and things won't change much from what they are now. In conjunction with schools, boosters and collectives will continue paying as much money to athletes as they want to.
