COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - A Federal judge ruled Friday that the NCAA must pay $2.8 billion after settling a lawsuit brought on by former athletes.
The ruling paves the way for Division I universities to begin paying the athletes directly. Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules have been observed since 2021, which allowed for athletes to make money through endorsements and other revenue streams, but not from the university directly.
Columbus drug, human trafficking ringleader gets 30 years in prisonThe defending National Champion Ohio State University Buckeyes will take the field at Ohio Stadium in just more than 80 days, but when they do, the entire landscape of college sports will have changed completely – universities are set to begin paying their athletes directly on July 1.
"There's going to be some athletes that are on our teams right now that won't have a spot,” Ohio State University Athletic Director Ross Bjork said in February. “However, the fact that we're increasing scholarships, the percentage of athletes that are on scholarship will go dramatically up."
Bjork made those comments about an NCAA proposal on athlete compensation, but now there’s a settlement.
“We'll pay that money directly and it won't be for every athlete,” Bjork said. “That will be, it'll be a process where we go obviously football, men's basketball, women's basketball, most likely women's volleyball, and maybe a few other sports will receive this revenue share."
In a statement, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the settlement “Opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports” and "establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party NIL agreements."
Gahanna teen wins national honor from American Birding AssociationSchools will start by paying athletes an estimated $20.5 million per school in revenue share money; all schools will receive the same amount.
Roster size will change; some sports will lose spots while others will gain. The football team will lose about 20 players, but the number of scholarships actually goes up from 85 to 105. This eliminates the “walk on” status, though current athletes will be grandfathered in to remain on their teams.
"What we have to do is we have to message that to our athletes, because there's going to be some athletes that are on our teams right now that won't have a spot," Bjork said. "However, the fact that we're increasing scholarship, the percentage of athletes that are on scholarship will go dramatically up."
In a statement, Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti said, “We look forward to implementing this historic settlement designed to bring stability, integrity and competitive balance to college athletics while increasing both scholarship and revenue opportunities for student-athletes in all sports."
Name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals will now be governed by a new organization called the College Sports Commission after Baker said the current NIL system led to “a sense of chaos: instability for schools, confusion for student-athletes, and too often, litigation.”
The Buckeyes have already started making changes to pay for the added scholarships.
Central Ohio schools win big at Track and Field State Tournament"We've added some new pricing structures in Ohio Stadium around football,” Bjork said. “People are gravitating towards those."
This includes the recently announced south end zone field level seats, set to debut in 2026 and generate more revenue.
As for revenue sharing, the payout structure guidance from the NCAA’s $2.8 billion settlement has 75% going to football, 15% going to basketball, and the remaining 10% being split among other revenue-generating sports. Ultimately, however, it will be up to each individual school to decide on how to distribute that money.
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