House Settlement Hearing - April 7, 2025

[Voice of the Quakers]

2 hours ago, Boring said:

That seems insane after decades of 9.9 scholarships, doesn't it? Seems like there will be a lot of guys who didn't even win state getting schollies if so many are being offered. 

Schools that opt to the House settlement may offer up to 30 full scholarships. Doesn't mean they will.

This is the part where we need to remind ourselves that schools opting in to the settlement - the Power 4/5 schools are mandated to accept to the settlement terms - are doing so to push money to their football and basketball players, not to non-revenue sports like wrestling. Looking at the terrain of D1 wrestling, I would be very concerned that MAC and SOCON schools will actually reduce their spending on wrestling to prop up their football and basketball teams.

[Boring]

2 hours ago, ionel said:

We eliminated many walk ons when went to 9.9.   What happened to all those Nebraska football black shirts? 

I think Nebraska got rid of all the blackshirts when they realized that not only does their defense truly suck balls, but has for decades. 

You know what the "N" on Nebraska's helmets stand for? Nawledge. 

[ionel]

3 hours ago, Boring said:

I think Nebraska got rid of all the blackshirts when they realized that not only does their defense truly suck balls, but has for decades. 

You know what the "N" on Nebraska's helmets stand for? Nawledge. 

Roster size was limited same in wrestling it reduced in some cases eliminated walk ons.  

[Wrestleknownothing]

The judge is pushing back on roster limits to the extent they impact currently rostered athletes.

https://www.si.com/fannation/name-image-likeness/nil-news/house-v-ncaa-judge-wilken-threatens-reject-settlement-over-roster-limits

 

Edited April 24 by Wrestleknownothing

[BlueWolverine]

On 4/19/2025 at 2:54 AM, Cornell Kevin said:

It surprises me a little that they came back with absolutely no modifications on the roster limit as the judge had strongly suggested.  She even said on April 7th something along the lines that if it wasn’t worked on that they risked her declining the entire deal. With that being said, I don’t see her doing so.  I think it will pass. 

Seems like the judge was surprised too and didn't appreciate that approach. Now they'll cave on phased roster limits, and it'll pass.

[Voice of the Quakers]

13 hours ago, BlueWolverine said:

Seems like the judge was surprised too and didn't appreciate that approach. Now they'll cave on phased roster limits, and it'll pass.

I am surprised the judge has pushed back on this. Both plaintiffs and defendants initially agreed to the roster limits with no grandfathering. (The plaintiffs appear to have changed their mind since the April 7 meeting.) If i have learned anything in my nine years working in the DC policy world, it's rare for a a judge or government official to get in the way of a negotiated agreement. 

Good news for all of those athletes who were told over the past six months to beat it.

Bad news for all of those incoming freshmen who are about to be told they have to find a new team.

[Wrestleknownothing]

 

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

I found this paragraph in The Athletic's article interesting:

While the plaintiff and defendant lawyers believe Wednesday’s revisions will satisfy Wilken’s requests, the objectors who Wilken ordered be included in the most recent discussions do not endorse these revisions. Shortly after the revisions were filed, Wilken issued an order granting those objectors until May 13 to respond, and the settlement lawyers until May 16 to then reply to those responses.

[Voice of the Quakers]

50 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

I found this paragraph in The Athletic's article interesting:

While the plaintiff and defendant lawyers believe Wednesday’s revisions will satisfy Wilken’s requests, the objectors who Wilken ordered be included in the most recent discussions do not endorse these revisions. Shortly after the revisions were filed, Wilken issued an order granting those objectors until May 13 to respond, and the settlement lawyers until May 16 to then reply to those responses.

No one actually expects the Power 4 schools to go back to cut athletes and released recruits and say welcome back. The revised settlement says they can, but they won't.

The good news is that these "Designated Student-Athletes" will not count against roster limits at any D1 school (see link below). They should be able to find new teams at the non-Power 4 schools - many schools will be happy to take on another tuition-paying student. (I would expect the vast majority of these DSAs NOT to receive athletic scholarships.) 

While there may be some more objections or tweaks here and there, the settlement is supposed to take effect July 1. Nothing like a deadline to get people moving in the world of policy. For better or worse, our new NCAA sports world is right around the corner.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/45044548/attorneys-handling-ncaa-settlement-propose-do-roster-limits

 

 

 

[Voice of the Quakers]

Notre Dame just signaled to the judge it would like to move forward with the settlement 

https://x.com/swimswamnews/status/1920610027691184185

[Wrestleknownothing]

Kentucky turns its athletic department into an LLC in anticipation of the House Settlement being approved:

https://swimswam.com/university-of-kentucky-transitions-athletic-department-into-an-llc-ahead-of-house-settlement/

And of course, it is a swimming publication bringing us the news.

[CHROMEBIRD]

On 5/16/2025 at 6:00 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Kentucky turns its athletic department into an LLC in anticipation of the House Settlement being approved:

https://swimswam.com/university-of-kentucky-transitions-athletic-department-into-an-llc-ahead-of-house-settlement/

And of course, it is a swimming publication bringing us the news.

Hopefully the NCAA keeps its minimum sport rule. Remember this cheeky take? 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2022/12/12/ncaa-division-is-14-sport-minimum-rule-is-ripe-for-antitrust-challenge/

Under the LLC model, wrestling and pretty much all of the non-revenue sports will be cooked

[GimJustafan]

Stephen F. Austin State University announced Thursday it was cutting its men's and women's golf programs at the end of the academic year.

The decision was based on sustained departmental budget deficits and the anticipated financial impact of upcoming revenue-sharing requirements with Division I athletes, per the school.

[ionel]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:00 PM, Wrestleknownothing said:

Kentucky turns its athletic department into an LLC in anticipation of the House Settlement being approved:

https://swimswam.com/university-of-kentucky-transitions-athletic-department-into-an-llc-ahead-of-house-settlement/

And of course, it is a swimming publication bringing us the news.

We all knew swimmers are smartest but who knew Kentucky was the smartest state in the land?  

[Wrestleknownothing]

11 minutes ago, ionel said:

We all knew swimmers are smartest but who knew Kentucky was the smartest state in the land?  

Don't forget handsome, too.

[ionel]

3 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Don't forget handsome, too.

... goes without saying. 

[bnwtwg]

19 minutes ago, ionel said:

We all knew swimmers are smartest 

*Our* swimmer is the smartest. On the other end of the spectrum is the golden lab of the sport "JEAHHH!" 

 

[Wrestleknownothing]

14 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

*Our* swimmer is the smartest. On the other end of the spectrum is the golden lab of the sport "JEAHHH!" 

 

Oh, Ryan. The poster boy for pretty boy airhead.

[Voice of the Quakers]

We have a deal.

https://www.on3.com/news/judge-approves-landmark-house-v-ncaa-settlement/

[bnwtwg]

I have always said it should be death to the NCAA but the byproduct will be the death of our sport in the US.

Like many other items recently, it has been a good run. Good luck and a prolonged good night.

[GimJustafan]

The world of college sports has changed dramatically over the last few years, but this move could be the biggest one yet.

In a landmark House settlement, schools will be allowed to pay athletes directly for the first time. After over 20 years of litigation, lawsuits and legal red tape, athletes will get compensation directly from the people they play for. However, this settlement is less of a finality, and more of a stop along the way towards equal compensation for all athletes.

 

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Let’s get into the details of what this allows for schools and athletes. Starting July 1, each school in the NCAA will have to set aside $20.5 million to pay to all their athletes. While each school sets aside this amount, universities don’t have to use all of that during a fiscal year. According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, this number is set by taking 22 percent of the average of certain power school revenues, most notably ticket sales, television dollars and sponsorships. This number won’t stay at $20.5 million, though. Because of cap escalators, Ohio State AD Ross Bjork told Dellenger that the cap could reach $25 million quickly.

Just because there’s a new settlement doesn’t mean that Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is going away. Athletes can still get NIL deals on top of what could just be called a salary from the university, making this almost similar to what professional athletes get. Even though NIL will still remain a thing, the settlement created a College Sports Commission (CSC) that will try and keep NIL as third party agreements and not as additional salary.

 

Related video: Judge rules NCAA schools can now pay athletes (FOX 5 Atlanta)

The federal judge's approval of a multibillion dollar settlement paves

FOX 5 Atlanta

Judge rules NCAA schools can now pay athletes

 

Now that we’ve established some details, let’s break down who this is good for, who needs to start asking more questions and what happens next.

Who is this good for?

If you’re a college football or men’s basketball player at a Power 4 school, this is great news for you. Some major programs are reportedly going to spend up to 90% of that revenue on football and men’s basketball according to ESPN. The revenue numbers from these sports massively outpace others, and the complaint heard from these programs was that it wasn’t fair that they had to share their revenue with sports that don’t make as much money. Now, with the new settlement going in place July 1, these sports will potentially be taking almost all of the money up for themselves.

In addition, if you’re at a Power 4 school, this settlement gives you much more freedom to use all that $20.5 million to better your rosters. More schools in the P4 can afford to use all of that money to nab players from out of the transfer portal and also keep the bottom of the roster from transferring out.

 

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Who does this affect negatively?

Women’s sports, Olympic sports, and mid-major Group of 5 schools could be getting the short end of the stick. Based on projections of how schools will be using this money, there’s not a lot of capital left for women’s sports or other Olympic sports after football and men’s basketball take the lion’s share. With the way that the revenue sharing is structured now, women’s sports could unfairly gets the short end of the stick. Not only that, but Olympic sports could be forced to move to the club level. According to Sports Illustrated, some Olympic sports won’t see any of that revenue money, facing threats of being cut from lesser programs overall. The trickle down effect that revenue sharing was supposed to bring might not bring anything to these programs, and it stinks for those involved.

For these lesser programs, a lot of questions will have to be asked. Not every athletic department has the capability of pulling in $20.5 million to throw at their programs, and it hurts their ability to not only bring in players, but retain their top athletes. In a story done by Nick Domingue of Ragin’ Review, the University of Louisiana opts into this new world, but they also have to acknowledge that they simply can’t spend the same amount as the power conferences can. Remember how that $20.5 million number was crafted? Yeah, they didn’t really ask what the G5 could bring to the table. Domingue reports that most G5 administrators say that they can only get to $1-3 million to pay directly to athletes. The G5 is kind of in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation”, because if they don’t opt into revenue sharing, it drastically hurts their ability to recruit. This means smaller schools will have to use NIL funding to pick up some of the slack, but with the CSC now a thing, that makes it even more difficult.

 

What’s next?

Well, first the NCAA has to back pay $2.8 billion to athletes who played from 2016-2024 for lost NIL value. On top of that, NCAA President Charlie Baker is STILL fighting to block student-athletes from being called employees, in what feels like a battle that’s been going on since the dawn of time. In addition, the NCAA wants to create an antitrust exemption to limit athlete’s earning power.

On the flip side of this, athletes now have to go through collective bargaining in order to shore up some issues now that they’re collecting checks directly from schools. However, in order to go to collective bargaining with the NCAA, there would have to be a players’ union involved. A union can’t be involved because unions are for those employed by the company, and the NCAA still won’t call players employees...and we’re back to square one. The first goal should be for the NCAA to finally drop the employee thing, so the collective bargaining can set limits on transfers and set a salary cap that’s equal across all programs.

There’s bound for more to unfold from this decision, but come July 1, a new world will be unlocked for college sports.

[Wrestleknownothing]

3 hours ago, GimJustafan said:

The world of college sports has changed dramatically over the last few years, but this move could be the biggest one yet.

In a landmark House settlement, schools will be allowed to pay athletes directly for the first time. After over 20 years of litigation, lawsuits and legal red tape, athletes will get compensation directly from the people they play for. However, this settlement is less of a finality, and more of a stop along the way towards equal compensation for all athletes.

 

Ad

 

Hotel from $107 USD with Barcelo.com

 

Barceló Hotel Group

Learn more

 

Let’s get into the details of what this allows for schools and athletes. Starting July 1, each school in the NCAA will have to set aside $20.5 million to pay to all their athletes. While each school sets aside this amount, universities don’t have to use all of that during a fiscal year. According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, this number is set by taking 22 percent of the average of certain power school revenues, most notably ticket sales, television dollars and sponsorships. This number won’t stay at $20.5 million, though. Because of cap escalators, Ohio State AD Ross Bjork told Dellenger that the cap could reach $25 million quickly.

Just because there’s a new settlement doesn’t mean that Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is going away. Athletes can still get NIL deals on top of what could just be called a salary from the university, making this almost similar to what professional athletes get. Even though NIL will still remain a thing, the settlement created a College Sports Commission (CSC) that will try and keep NIL as third party agreements and not as additional salary.

 

Related video: Judge rules NCAA schools can now pay athletes (FOX 5 Atlanta)

The federal judge's approval of a multibillion dollar settlement paves

FOX 5 Atlanta

Judge rules NCAA schools can now pay athletes

 

Now that we’ve established some details, let’s break down who this is good for, who needs to start asking more questions and what happens next.

Who is this good for?

If you’re a college football or men’s basketball player at a Power 4 school, this is great news for you. Some major programs are reportedly going to spend up to 90% of that revenue on football and men’s basketball according to ESPN. The revenue numbers from these sports massively outpace others, and the complaint heard from these programs was that it wasn’t fair that they had to share their revenue with sports that don’t make as much money. Now, with the new settlement going in place July 1, these sports will potentially be taking almost all of the money up for themselves.

In addition, if you’re at a Power 4 school, this settlement gives you much more freedom to use all that $20.5 million to better your rosters. More schools in the P4 can afford to use all of that money to nab players from out of the transfer portal and also keep the bottom of the roster from transferring out.

 

Ad

 

Garrison Dental Composi-Tight Original 3. 8mm Bicuspid 25 Package | 570 | Safco Dental Supply

 

Safco Dental Supply

Learn more

 

Who does this affect negatively?

Women’s sports, Olympic sports, and mid-major Group of 5 schools could be getting the short end of the stick. Based on projections of how schools will be using this money, there’s not a lot of capital left for women’s sports or other Olympic sports after football and men’s basketball take the lion’s share. With the way that the revenue sharing is structured now, women’s sports could unfairly gets the short end of the stick. Not only that, but Olympic sports could be forced to move to the club level. According to Sports Illustrated, some Olympic sports won’t see any of that revenue money, facing threats of being cut from lesser programs overall. The trickle down effect that revenue sharing was supposed to bring might not bring anything to these programs, and it stinks for those involved.

For these lesser programs, a lot of questions will have to be asked. Not every athletic department has the capability of pulling in $20.5 million to throw at their programs, and it hurts their ability to not only bring in players, but retain their top athletes. In a story done by Nick Domingue of Ragin’ Review, the University of Louisiana opts into this new world, but they also have to acknowledge that they simply can’t spend the same amount as the power conferences can. Remember how that $20.5 million number was crafted? Yeah, they didn’t really ask what the G5 could bring to the table. Domingue reports that most G5 administrators say that they can only get to $1-3 million to pay directly to athletes. The G5 is kind of in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation”, because if they don’t opt into revenue sharing, it drastically hurts their ability to recruit. This means smaller schools will have to use NIL funding to pick up some of the slack, but with the CSC now a thing, that makes it even more difficult.

 

What’s next?

Well, first the NCAA has to back pay $2.8 billion to athletes who played from 2016-2024 for lost NIL value. On top of that, NCAA President Charlie Baker is STILL fighting to block student-athletes from being called employees, in what feels like a battle that’s been going on since the dawn of time. In addition, the NCAA wants to create an antitrust exemption to limit athlete’s earning power.

On the flip side of this, athletes now have to go through collective bargaining in order to shore up some issues now that they’re collecting checks directly from schools. However, in order to go to collective bargaining with the NCAA, there would have to be a players’ union involved. A union can’t be involved because unions are for those employed by the company, and the NCAA still won’t call players employees...and we’re back to square one. The first goal should be for the NCAA to finally drop the employee thing, so the collective bargaining can set limits on transfers and set a salary cap that’s equal across all programs.

There’s bound for more to unfold from this decision, but come July 1, a new world will be unlocked for college sports.

I am mostly interested in that $107 beachfront hotel room

[GimJustafan]

2 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

I am mostly interested in that $107 beachfront hotel room

sorry thought i had copied link