Judge Finalizes House Vs. NCAA Settlement, Which Will Allow Colleges To Share Revenue With Student Athletes

Judge Claudia Wilken approved a landmark multi-billion-dollar settlement Friday night, which will allow colleges to directly pay student-athletes.

As part of the settlement, the NCAA will distribute $2.8 billion in back damages to student-athletes who played college sports from 2016 to present day. The settlement will allow each school to operate with a revenue-sharing cap of roughly $20.5 million in 2025-26.

The cap, which is equal to 22.5 percent of the revenue earned by an average power conference school, is expected to increase every year over the next decade. The settlement does not eliminate NIL but instead will establish a Clearinghouse operated by Deloitte that will vet any NIL deal worth more than $600.

In an open letter released on Friday night, NCAA president Charlie Baker remarked on the new changes coming to collegiate sports.

“Approving the agreement reached by the NCAA, the defendant conferences and student-athletes in the settlement opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports,” Baker wrote. “This new framework that enables schools to provide direct financial benefits to student-athletes and establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party NIL agreements marks a huge step forward for college sports.”

According to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, the new settlement will implement new roster limits. In football, the roster limit will grow to 105, and basketball and baseball will have roster limits of 15 and 34, respectively.