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College athletics is nearly unrecognizable in many ways from the college athletics we all grew up with in the 90’s and the 2000’s. Teams play in different conferences, athletes change teams all the time, and players can make money while in college. (None of those things are necessarily bad.)
Eventually, the dam is going to break and universities are going to have to pay student-athletes in revenue-generating sports directly for their labor. According to a new report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Dan Murphy, that day is closer than ever.
Thamel and Murphy report that serious discussions between the power brokers of college athletics have ramped up in recent days about settling antitrust lawsuits that seek billions in damages from schools due to suppression of income of student-athletes. These settlements would establish revenue sharing with the student-athletes.
While sources stressed that no deal is imminent, details about what a multibillion-dollar settlement could look like are expected to be shared with campuses in the near future. There are myriad variables to get to the finish line and still some obstacles and objections at the campus level, but sources indicate that progress has ramped up in recent weeks.
A settlement would provide some legal relief for a college sports industry that’s been peppered by lawsuits. It could also serve as a keystone piece to formulating a more stable future. With the settlement expected to cost billions in back pay for former athletes, it would likely also require the NCAA and conferences to agree to a system for sharing more revenue with some of the players moving forward.
Sources indicated the top-end revenue share number per school — once it’s determined — would be in the neighborhood of $20 million annually, although that’s yet to be settled. Whatever number is set by the settlement, individual schools will be able to opt in to share revenue up to that number with their student athletes at their discretion. They could choose to share less, but not more.
This would certainly change things up a bit. Currently, student-athletes can make money through NIL rights. But, that’s evolved from players getting deals with companies for their endorsements to fan-organized collectives paying players directly. It’s a nonsense system that allows the university to keep all the television money and makes the fans pay to keep and attract the best players.
It’s likely that NIL won’t go anywhere. It really can’t unless the players decide to negotiate it away in a legally-binding collective bargaining agreement. But, revenue sharing would keep things calmer, it seems.