College athletes are about to get paid — directly, by their universities.
That’s a California judge approves a landmark, multi-billion-dollar settlement of three separate antitrust cases against the NCAA and college sports’ power conferences. Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California gave preliminary approval to the settlement in October and will hold a hearing Monday — the day of the men’s NCAA Tournament championship game — before issuing a final decision.
Whether that decision comes as soon as Monday remains to be seen. But if approved, schools will be permitted to directly pay athletes through about $20.5 million in revenue sharing during the 2025-26 athletic year, and the amateurism model that has ruled college sports for more than a century will nearly cease to exist at the Division I level.
In addition, nearly $2.8 billion will be set aside as back-pay damages for athletes dating back to 2016 who did not have the opportunity to be compensated for their name, image and likeness (NIL).
At a time when collegiate athletics faces more questions than answers, here’s what we know about the settlement and how it will reshape the landscape if it is approved.
What does the settlement do?
The settlement would resolve three separate antitrusts: House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA. “House” refers to former Arizona State swimmer Grant House, who brought a federal lawsuit in 2020 seeking damages for athletes who could not earn NIL money. The three lawsuits were among a flurry filed against the NCAA and its power conferences in recent years related to college athletes’ earnings.
The NCAA had an incentive to settle because it could have owed as much as $20 billion in damages had it lost the House case.
The settlement’s wide-ranging effects would benefit former athletes while setting up a new revenue-sharing era for current athletes.
NIL compensation for current and former athletes
A major component of the settlement is nearly $2.8 billion in back-pay damages the NCAA will owe to current and former Division I athletes who competed since 2016, which the association plans on paying in installments over 10 years. (The statute of limitations went back to 2016 when the suit was filed.)
Most of that money will go to power-conference football and men’s basketball players, given those media rights generate the most revenue among college sports.
Revenue sharing with current athletes
The settlement allows for a revenue-sharing plan that lets schools start directly paying players. It is expected to start at roughly $20.5 million and increase on an annual basis. (The annual number will be calculated as 22 percent of Power 5 schools’ average athletic revenue.)
Revenue-sharing payments are not a cap on how much money athletes can make under the settlement. They will still be permitted to sign independent sponsorship deals and receive NIL payments from approved third parties.
Changes to scholarship limits
In another new development from the settlement, scholarship limits will be replaced by
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