Sources say the NCAA board is voting to accept the antitrust settlement

The NCAA Board of Governors voted Wednesday night to agree to the terms of a House settlement against the NCAA and related antitrust cases, sources tell ESPN, joining three previous power conferences in seeking a historic change in the way college sports are conducted. .

The Big 12 and ACC voted on Tuesday to accept the terms of the settlement, and the Big Ten joined them on Wednesday. The other two defendants named in the lawsuit – the SEC and Pac-12 – are also expected to vote to approve the terms later this week. The NCAA board of directors did not vote unanimously on Wednesday, a source told ESPN.

The NCAA board’s vote was expected, but it may be more symbolic. The board’s vote in favor of a settlement that would allow schools to pay players marks a formal severance of a decades-long bond with unpaid amateurism.

According to sources, terms of the settlement call for the NCAA to pay out more than $2.7 billion to former athletes over the next decade in back injuries related to association name, image and likeness restrictions. The conferences also agreed to create a forward-looking system that would allow schools to pay about $20 million a year in liberal revenue sharing from athletes. These direct payments, representing an unprecedented paradigm shift in college sports, will likely begin in the fall of 2025.

By reaching the settlement, the schools and the NCAA are avoiding a lawsuit that, if they lose, could face damages of more than $4 billion, which legal experts said was likely given the NCAA’s recent poor track record in lawsuits. According to sources, the plaintiffs will also agree to dismiss two other pending antitrust cases against the NCAA that could potentially add billions of dollars in damages to an already daunting amount.

College athletics leaders have widely acknowledged that while the settlement in this case is a significant step forward, it will not solve all the legal and governance problems that destabilized their previous business model. While some university leaders are skeptical that the settlement will provide a clear path forward, and other college athletic leaders have expressed doubts about how the financial burden of the settlement will be shared among conferences, sources tell ESPN that an agreement is widely expected to be reached by the end of the week. The league only needs a majority vote to approve the current terms.

Sources said it will take at least six months to sort out details such as how Title IX rules will apply to future payments and whether they could reduce spending in the NIL market.

While the agreement represents a major step forward, there are still several steps left before the legal cases are officially resolved. Both sides will have to present a more detailed settlement to Judge Claudia Wilken, and all Division 1 athletes will have many months to review the terms and decide whether they want to object or opt out of the class-action settlement. This process will take months to reach its conclusion.

ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.