Settlement answers some questions for college sports, raises more [opinion]

Amateurism in college athletics was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m. Friday.

That’s when federal Judge Claudia Wilken gave her final approval to a settlement of the House vs. NCAA case, which will allow schools to pay athletes beginning next month.

For those schools that opt in, they can pay athletes up to $20.5 million from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, or 22% of revenues from ticket sales, TV revenue and sponsorships.

Of course, the settlement means the wealthier schools (i.e., those from the four major conferences) will benefit the most because they can afford to dole out that kind of money.

Most of the money will go to football and men’s basketball, the two sports that generate the most revenue. It’s estimated that $13 million-$16 million will go to football, $2 million-$4 million to men’s basketball and whatever’s left to a school’s remaining sports.

Football and men’s basketball players will do well, but what will happen to women’s sports and to Olympic sports? Will schools eliminate sports in order to afford the $20.5 million?

And what happens at Division II and III schools like Kutztown, Albright and Alvernia? How does this settlement affect them?

So many issues and questions remain. As one administrator said, this is only the first step of an ongoing process.

“Since the court’s initial approval of the settlement in July 2024, Penn State Athletics has been preparing to meet the demands of this transformational change,” athletic director Pat Kraft wrote in an open letter. “We will share revenue with our student-athletes to the maximum allowable levels.

“While the world around us changes, our steadfast focus on supporting student-athletes and winning championships remains constant!” he wrote.

Oversight will be in the hands of the four major conferences, which formed the College Sports Commission.

The CSC will oversee any new contract over $600 that’s struck between an athlete and a third-party entity, such as a business, brand, booster or collective to make sure it has fair-market value.

The CSC will monitor how much schools are spending to ensure they stay under the cap and will handle enforcement, investigating violations and handing out penalties.

It’s taking over the job of the NCAA, which has struggled with enforcement for a long while.

“It’s a new beginning for Division I student-athletes and for the NCAA,” NCAA President Charlie Baker wrote Friday night. “Approving the agreement reached by the NCAA, the defendant conference and student-athletes in the settlement opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports.”

Not so fast. Expect more uncertainty over increasing the salary cap, treating female athletes more equitably, third-party Name, Image and Likeness entities questioning the limits on deals with athletes, and different state laws.

The settlement eliminated scholarship limits and instituted roster limits. In football, for example, Division I teams have been allowed to pay no more than 85 scholarships to players. Beginning July 1, they can have a maximum of 105 players on the roster, compared with 120 or so now at a place like Penn State. They can choose to give scholarships to all 105 players.

Unfortunately, schools began cutting walk-ons before the final settlement was reached. Thankfully, schools are allowed to keep their current and incoming athletes without having to cut any to reach roster limits.

“I don’t want to lose any of them,” Penn State football coach James Franklin said in late April. “I’d like for these guys to stay a part of the program until they graduate. A lot of these men chose Penn State to get their degree from Penn State and play football.”

In addition, the settlement provides an estimated 85,000 former college athletes from 2016-24 with $2.8 billion in back pay for lost NIL revenue. The $20.5 million cap for current and future athletes likely will increase annually during the 10-year deal.

Penn State has 31 varsity sports, but only football and men’s basketball make a profit. The school is coming off a banner academic year, which included women’s volleyball and wrestling winning national titles and football, men’s ice hockey and men’s lacrosse making the national semifinals.

“Because of those successes, Penn State enters this new era of college sports in a position of strength and ready to attack this new collegiate landscape,” Kraft wrote. “While change can be difficult, it also can provide new opportunities. I assure you we will embrace every opportunity this new model creates.”