There are a lot of changes likely to affect college sports in the next couple of years
Highlights of Recent Rulings / Proposals:
- The 2026 Final Four weekend in Indianapolis will now include the NIT, D-2, and D-3 Final Fours. The D-1 Final Four will be at Lucas Oil Stadium, the NIT at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse, and the D-2 & D-3 at the Indiana Pacer’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
- Proposed change to basketball season start dates – Partly inspired by the success of the women’s Final Four and Championship this season, the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees have proposed shifting the start dates to a week earlier and starting the women’s season two days prior to the men’s season, giving the women’s game “increased marketing and promotional opportunities contributing to elevation of the sport at a campus level.” If approved, the first game for women could be played on November 3, 2025 and the men November 5, 2025. Currently, both start on November 11, 2025. The D1 Council will review the proposal, and likely approve, in October.
- Title IX – With the looming massive NIL settlement on the horizon, the US Department of Education reiterated, “Schools must provide equal athletic opportunities based on sex, including with respect to benefits, opportunities, publicity, and recruitment, and must not discriminate in the provision of financial aid,” “In the new NIL environment, these same principles apply.”
- Expansion of the NCAA Tournament – A proposal has been submitted to the Division 1 Council to expand the tournament by either 4 or 8 teams beginning with the 2026 tournament. It would be implemented in the form of additional play-in games, exactly like the current games played in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the first round of the 64-team bracket. However, they would not be hosted by the University of Dayton like the current games, another location(s) will be determined should the proposal be approved. The D1 Council is expected to rule on this at either their July or August meetings.
- Are athletes employees? – College athletes whose efforts primarily benefit their schools may qualify as employees deserving of pay under federal wage-and-hour laws, a U.S. appeals court ruled in a setback to the NCAA. The court said a test should be developed to differentiate between students who play college sports for fun and those whose effort “crosses the legal line into work.”
The NCAA Antitrust Lawsuit Settlement Proposal
As has been mentioned in this space previously, the NCAA’s lawyers officially submitted their proposal to the court on Friday. The settlement is intended to settle three potentially catastrophic lawsuits hanging over their heads. (House vs NCAA, Hubbard vs NCAA, and Carter vs NCAA)
Next Steps
This is not yet finalized, but the judge is expected to preliminarily approve it in the next couple of months, after which it will be made available to the affected athletes, and they will be given the opportunity to object to the terms. The settlement proposes a 105-day window (Oct 1, 2024 – Jan 14, 2025) for the athlete review. During the review period, a website will be provided allowing the athletes to determine how much to expect from the proposed pool of damages. Best case, the settlement could be finalized in early 2025.
Details of the Proposal
- Any Division I athlete who played a sport from 2016 to present day is eligible for past damages, which will be determined by a proposed formula.
NOTE: The 2016 cutoff date is due to the statute of limitations.
NOTE: The formula takes into account a number of factors, including where the athlete went to school and how many snaps or minutes they played.
- Football and men’s basketball players from power conference schools will be eligible to receive an average of $135,000
- Women’s basketball players from power conference schools could be eligible to receive an average of $35,000.
- Highest individual estimated payout for one athlete will be $1.8 million
- Schools will be permitted for the first time to pay their athletes directly via NIL deals; each school could provide up to 22% of the average revenue that power conference schools generate from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships — a sum that is expected to be between $20 and $22 million per school when settlement goes into effect
NOTE: That 22% figure will be a standardized benchmark, not school specific. However, it will be out of reach of many schools.
NOTE: The law firm managing the settlement process will be responsible for auditing financial statements from NCAA schools during the course of the 10-year settlement to make sure schools are properly reporting their revenues.
- The $20-22 million figure that serves, in effect, as a salary cap will increase over time as the leagues’ revenue grows; number expected to grow to nearly $33 million per school by end of settlement’s 10-year term
- Those payments when combined with tuition and other benefits athletes already receive will create a system where many schools are sharing close to half of the revenue they generate with athletes
- The 50/50 split calculation considers all athletes at the school as one group rather than on a sport-by-sport basis
- Athletes would still be able to make money from NIL deals with third parties
NOTE: The NCAA will install a more “robust and effective enforcement and oversight program” to make sure these are legitimate endorsement deals and is expected to require disclosure of any deal greater than $600.
[Opinion] – The NCAA would prefer to eliminate the third-party arrangements and have the deals done exclusively through the schools so that they are under the NCAA umbrella of influence. However, because they don’t currently control them, they can’t eliminate them. But they can make it harder for them.
- As discussed on BTP (7/25) in more detail here, the NCAA agreed to remove any limits on the number of scholarships a school can provide to athletes. Instead, there will be a limit the number of players on a roster, the school will decide who gets the scholarships.
- Settlement allows for the court to appoint a “special master” to rule on any disputes about new rules related to player compensation
NOTE: This would be independent of the NCAA and would include an arbitration process.
- The settlement does not provide detailed instructions on how to apply Title IX to these new benefits, leaving some potentially tricky decisions up to each individual school.
(credit to Tony Altimore @TJAltomore for the graphic)
References: There is a lot more detail on these topics if interested.