Paying college athletes is closer than ever. How could this work?

House v. NCAA is a federal class action lawsuit seeking compensation for athletes who have been denied the opportunity to earn money from the use of their name, image or likeness (NIL) since 2016. The plaintiffs, including former Arizona State swimmer Grant House, filed the lawsuit in 2020 and also asked the court to rule that NIL damages should include billions of dollars in media rights fees that go to the NCAA and the five richest conferences ( Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, Atlantic Coast and Southeast), primarily for football and basketball.

WHO CALLED?

The Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, SEC and Pac-12 presidential councils all voted this week to approve the settlement, as did the NCAA Board of Governors. The lead lawyers in the case are known NCAA foes Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler, who have a track record of victories in compensation cases for college athletes. They will now work with their plaintiff clients on next steps with the judge.

HOW MUCH?

The settlement requires the NCAA to pay nearly $2.8 billion in damages over 10 years, covered by insurance and withheld payments, that were to go to 352 Division I member schools. Last year, NCAA revenues totaled $1.3 billion, and the association anticipates continued growth in the coming years, mainly due to increases resulting from the television deal with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery for the men’s basketball tournament. The new eight-year, $920 million deal with ESPN for the Division I women’s basketball tournament and other championship events will begin in 2025.

The potential settlement could cost each school in the remaining power conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC) about $300 million a year over 10 years, including as much as $21 million a year to pay school athletes. Administrators warn it could lead to cuts in so-called non-revenue sports familiar to fans watching the Olympics.

“It would be the Olympic sports that would be at risk,” Alabama State athletic director Greg Byrne said during a March discussion on Capitol Hill. “They are men and women. If you look at the numbers for us at the University of Alabama, across the 19 sports outside of football and men’s basketball, we lost a total of almost $40 million.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The House case is being heard in the Northern District of California by U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken, who has previously ruled against the NCAA in other landmark antitrust lawsuits. Wilken must approve the settlement, which is expected to cover at least two other antitrust lawsuits pending before the NCAA. Another lawsuit against the NCAA in Colorado remains separate but could ultimately be included in the settlement.

Meanwhile, schools will try to plan what revenue sharing might look like as college athletics continues its sharp shift from amateurism to a very different model.