NCAA agrees to allow college athletic departments to directly pay players

A major milestone was reached on Thursday that will eventually allow college athletic departments to directly pay players.

The NCAA agreed to settle three ongoing antitrust cases, which will lead to the organization paying damages to past and current athletes. Part of the agreement includes a ‘revenue-sharing plan allowing each school to share up to roughly $20 million per year with its athletes,’ according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

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Thamel also notes that the NCAA made the decision along with powerful members of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12. It is likely to be universally adopted.

The move toward a revenue-sharing model has been rumored since players profiting off NIL began in 2021. Given the current climate of the sport and the unsustainable nature of unregulated pay-for-play, this monumental shift should lead toward a clear financial model and roster-building structure.

Instead of collectives and silent boosters funding the teams while athletic departments profits off lucrative television revenue, now each school’s athletic department will need to operate more like a business. If $60 million comes in every year from television deals, the department will now be forced to use some of that money to operate a player payroll and keep the team together. In a perfect world, this should help to even the playing field from the current richest-takes-all climate.

This ongoing legal process should take time. Thamel notes the new model could be adopted as early as 2025.

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Story originally appeared on Badgers Wire