As SEC spring meetings begin, major questions loom around House settlement
For the first time in a few years, scheduling won't take center stage when the SEC powers that be converge in Miramar Beach, Florida.
No, long-term scheduling hasn't been decided. We don't know if the SEC will play eight or nine conference games years down the road. That will have to be figured out, but much bigger issues and questions loom at the start of SEC spring meetings this week.
A new age of revenue sharing, which somewhat officially squashes the notion of amateurism, in college sports has arrived. The NCAA, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 all voted in favor of a settlement in the House v. NCAA case last week.
Football and basketball coaches, athletics directors, university presidents and more will make the annual trip to the Emerald Coast with plenty to discuss at the SEC spring meetings.
The settlement is historic and noteworthy because of the payment of back damages and what it means for compensating athletes in the future. The back damages from the NCAA, paid to former athletes who weren't allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness, will total about $2.8 billion over 10 years, according to a summary of proposed terms obtained by USA TODAY Sports. Much of that is expected to be paid with distributions the NCAA would have given to member schools.
And as part of the terms of the settlement, schools will share in revenue with athletes moving forward.
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"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," read a joint statement from all the power conferences and the NCAA. "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 beginning of that writing has already begun, and it will only amplify in Florida during the meetings. Frankly, the meeting timing is quite perfect right after the historic settlement decision. Coaches and administrators will all be in the same location and have a chance to best figure out how to handle the questions that loom.
Here are a few of the biggest:
How will revenue be shared among current athletes after House settlement?
Schools will now have the ability to share a certain amount of revenue with athletes each year, starting in 2025. That number is expected to be at least $20 million to start, per USA TODAY Sports.
How does that get distributed among the athletes? That's perhaps the biggest question. Especially because Title IX is still expected to apply, per Yahoo! Sports. So there's going to have to be some strategic calculations for schools as they put the pieces of the $20+ million puzzle together.
What do future rosters look like?
As part of the settlement terms, roster limits are expected to come into play instead of scholarship limits. What that looks like and how coaches manage that new challenge will be something worth following in the first few seasons once the settlement terms go into effect.
What does future of NIL look like?
The revenue sharing is not seen as the limit for what athletes can make. It's essentially a baseline. Athletes will still have a chance to benefit and earn money from their name, image and likeness under the terms of the proposed settlement.
So what does that mean for the future of NIL in college athletics? Or another way to say that: What does it mean for the future of the pay-for-play model that has superseded true NIL?
As a result of the settlement, enforcement of pay-for-play becomes more of a possibility. How will that be enforced, though? What does that enforcement look like? And how will "true NIL" be determined?
There's plenty unknown, but there is at least one certainty: The SEC spring meetings couldn't have come at a much better time.
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: SEC spring meetings: Questions loom around House settlement
