It's taken a long time, but the courts have finally weighed in on colleges ability to pay their athletes. A decision was reached on Friday.
An article from Dan Murphy of ESPN said the following. "Judge Claudia Wilken approved the deal between the NCAA, its most powerful conferences and lawyers representing all Division I athletes. The House vs NCAA settlement ends three separate federal antitrust lawsuits, all of which claimed the NCAA was illegally limiting the earning power of college athletes.
Wilken's long-awaited decision comes with less than a month remaining before schools are planning to start cutting checks to athletes on July 1st. Both sides presented their arguments for approving the settlement at a hearing in early April. While college sports leaders have been making tentative plans for a major shift in how they do business, the tight turnaround time means schools and conferences will have to hustle to establish the infrastructure needed to enforce their new rules".
Here's a rundown of what the new process will look like:
Revenue Sharing:
Schools can share up to $20.5 millions of their athletic revenue with student-athletes, a cap that is expected to increase annually.
Back Payments:
The settlement also includes $2.8 billions in back payments for athletes who competed between 2016 and 2024.
Roster Limits:
The settlement includes provisions for new roster limits, but schools can grandfather in existing athletes.
NIL Clearinghouse:
A new clearinghouse will be responsible for reviewing NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals, ensuring compliance with the settlement.
Enforcement:
The enforcement of the settlement will be primarily managed by the four power conferences, (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC) rather than the NCAA.
Power Conferences:
The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC hold significant decision-making power, particularly concerning the College Football Playoff.
Future Legal Scrutiny:
The settlement is expected to face future legal challenges, potentially including those related to Title IX and the capped compensation system.
Congression Action:
There are efforts to codify the settlement terms through a congressional bill to protect the NCAA and power conferences from future legal challenges.
I have many questions regarding the ruling. For one, the back pay of athletes that played from 2016 to 2024 is going to a convoluted mess. How is a dollar amount going to be reached for their play during that time period? What about injuries that curtailed their statistics or perhaps ended their careers? Good luck in administering that.
Supposedly a new sheriff is going to be leading a new Clearinghouse in NIL. My understanding that individual will be coming from an NCAA background. I see a whole array of issues there. And where might other hands be trying to dig into the till of the athlete that got a nice deal?
And lasty, when dollars are laid out by universities by a percentage for each sport and say football gets 75% of the piece of the pie, how long do you think it will take for sports that get a small piece to begin filing lawsuits to change the amount their sports get?
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| Money, money, money for the trophies |
Wilken's final-approval ruling can be taken to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It is not certain whether it will be appealed, but objecting parties have 30 days to decide. The contentiousness surrounding the roster limits could result in one of more of the objectors who were focused on that issue not only appealing but also seeking a stay that would delay implementation of the entire settlement.
The barn door is swung open much further now based on Wilken's ruling. I highly doubt we have an across-the-board agreement. The fighting is far from over so.....Let the Wild, Wild West continue to roll.
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