NCAA Agrees to Revenue-Sharing With College Athletes in $2.8 Billion Settlement
In a landmark decision, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its five power conferences voted to approve a $2.77 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit on Thursday, The Athletic reported. The move will phase out the amateurism model of the NCAA and allow schools to directly pay student athletes a portion of the revenue they help generate.
“The five autonomy conferences and the NCAA agreeing to settlement terms is an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come,” NCAA president Charlie Baker and the five power conference commissioners said in a joint statement released Thursday evening.
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“This settlement is also a road map for college sports leaders and Congress to ensure this uniquely American institution can continue to provide unmatched opportunity for millions of students. All of Division I made today’s progress possible, and we all have work to do to implement the terms of the agreement as the legal process continues. We look forward to working with our various student-athlete leadership groups to write the next chapter of college sports.”
The settlement agreement resolves a case that was filed in 2020, per The Athletic. The suit sought back pay for college athletes — the NCAA’s national office agreed to the $2.7 billion payment for past damages, which will be allocated over the next 10 years — and also sought a court order that would force the NCAA and power conferences to remove policies blocking revenue sharing from broadcast rights.
Division I schools will also have the ability to distribute roughly $20 million annually to their athletes, with the potential for the figure to grow according to school revenue.
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