NCAA athletes are this close to accessing revenue sharing

A legal hearing took place yesterday that could officially reverse the amateur model that’s governed college sports since 1906.

What’s at stake: The NCAA and America’s five largest athletic conferences (the Power Five) last year agreed to a settlement, pending a judge’s approval👆, that would involve schools paying athletes directly for the first time. It would also distribute $2.8 billion in back-payments to ~14,000 student-athletes who have competed at Power Five schools since 2016.

• Under the future model, D1 schools could distribute up to 22% of the average athletic department’s revenue—initially capped at ~$20 million/year—to their athletes, with full discretion over how those funds are distributed.
• The deal wouldn’t affect existing laws allowing athletes to profit from their own name, image, and likeness (NIL). But the NCAA would impose roster limits, potentially cutting thousands of players and commits. 

Also...While top schools make bank, the median FBS school’s athletic department lost ~$20 million in 2022. In order to make the math math better and drum up additional funds to pay athletes, some schools are raising concession prices and adding additional fees to tuition costs.

Looking ahead: Should the settlement be approved—the judge is expected to render a decision soon—expect more court cases to follow. There are already 12+ lawsuits about various questions that remain open despite the settlement, such as how it applies to Title IX and whether players should legally be classified as employees.