Courts affect courts

On July 26, a settlement was filed ending litigation against the NCAA. 

Next year athletes, mostly big-time football and basketball players, will (assuming the court approves the settlement) be getting paid by the schools they play for.

What will that mean for players and for fans? Since the agreement runs 133 pages, the answer is not clear.

The backpay portion of the settlement will give covered athletes (mostly Power 5 football and basketball players) who have played since 2016 (that year because of statute of limitations) about $2.75 billion over the next 10 years. The effect on UD is the loss of money the school would have received from the NCAA, “well into seven figures,” said Neil Sullivan, UD’s director of athletics.

Details of the agreement seem to indicate that some of the settlement money will go to Flyers from the men’s basketball team. The A-10 for men’s basketball is in a tier (below the Power 5) in which players will receive for “pay-to-play” an average of $2,400. Estimates for what all the players included in the settlement will get from lost opportunities to monetize their NIL (name, image, likeness) range from $1 to $1,859,000. There’s also a category for money not earned from video games.

After July 1, 2025, schools will be allowed to enter directly into revenue sharing with athletes. The amount a school can spend will be capped at $23 million the first year, with yearly increases.

Why $23 million? There seems to be agreement that athletes in pro leagues get about half what teams generate. When scholarships and other benefits are combined with the $23 million, that supposedly comes out to about half of what a power conference school generates.

The $23 million is in addition to scholarships (which will remain non-taxable) and other benefits currently offered. Players will still be able to enter into third-party arrangements, but a new clearinghouse will have to evaluate their authenticity in relation to their true market value (as opposed to being an additional pay-to-play incentive).

This year, collectives such as Dayton 6th are still very important. “We can’t pay now,” Sullivan said.

“We can’t pay now.”

Another change related to the settlement is the abolition of scholarship limits. The NCAA can, however, impose roster limits. Baseball, for example, now is limited to 13.1 scholarships. (Many sports have the possibility of partial scholarships now; in the future, all will.) Next year, baseball’s roster limit will be 34. Football is going from 85 to 105. Men’s basketball from 13 to 15.

Given the uncertainty going into this year, the athletic department did not raise the contribution levels to the arena seating program for the coming season. Going into next year, Sullivan said, “We need to figure out how we can have a Top 25 roster.”