NCAA to pay back over $2.7 billion in damages, power conferences rule to allow players direct payment across college sports
The NCAA is set to pay over $2.7 billion in damages over the course of a 10-year time period to past and current athletes, multiple reports indicated on Thursday. The NCAA and its power conferences have also agreed to a revenue-sharing plan that will allow each program to share a maximum of roughly $20 million […]
The NCAA is set to pay over $2.7 billion in damages over the course of a 10-year time period to past and current athletes, multiple reports indicated on Thursday. The NCAA and its power conferences have also agreed to a revenue-sharing plan that will allow each program to share a maximum of roughly $20 million annually with its athletes.
This marks the first time in the history of college sports that schools have been permitted to directly pay players.
All Division I athletes back through 2016 are eligible to receive a share of the payout as part of the settlement class. These athletes cannot sue the NCAA for any other potential antitrust violations and must drop their complaints in three open cases (House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA).
All terms in the settlement must be approved by Judge Claudia Wilken, who is over all three of the cases. This could take multiple months to go through the process, and sources tell ESPN that revenue sharing for schools is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.
"Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the athletes alongside veteran antitrust attorney Jeffrey Kessler, said this week's agreement feels like a "finish line" but that the cases won't be officially closed for several more months," ESPN's Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel wrote. "Other antitrust attorneys told ESPN that the deal could unravel if athletes opt out to join a separate and pending antitrust case or if Wilken rejects the settlement terms. Berman said he remains confident their deal will hold."
All parties involved plan to, by the end of the week, contact Judge Wilken to officially communicate that they will submit all necessary and final details to the court within the upcoming 30 days.
