NCAA President Charlie Baker and each of the Power 5 conferences — the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern — jointly announced Thursday that they’ve agreed to settlement terms regarding antitrust and class-action lawsuits. According to Ralph D. Russo of The Associated Press, the NCAA and Power 5 will pay nearly $2.8 billion, expected to be paid over 10 years, to settle several antitrust claims, notably House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA, and the joint statement claimed it “is an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come.”

Among the longstanding aspects that made up the foundations of the NCAA is set to change: schools can directly pay players.

Here is the full joint statement from Baker, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petititti, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

“The five autonomy conferences and the NCAA agreeing to settlement terms is an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come. This settlement is also a road map for college sports leaders and Congress to ensure this uniquely American institution can continue to provide unmatched opportunity for millions of students. All of Division I made today’s progress possible, and we all have work to do to implement the terms of the agreement as the legal process continues. We look forward to working with our various student-athlete leadership groups to write the next chapter of college sports.”

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Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. also reportedly released a statement, calling the settlement “necessary to avoid what would be the bankruptcy of college athletics.” Here is his full statement according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports.

“The settlement, though undesirable in many respects and promising only temporary stability, is necessary to avoid what would be the bankruptcy of college athletics. To save the great American institution of college sports, Congress must pass legislation that will preempt the current patchwork of state laws; establish that our athletes are not employees, but students seeking college degrees; and provide protection from further antitrust lawsuits that will allow colleges to make and enforce rules that will protect our student-athletes and help ensure competitive equity among our teams,” Jenkins stated via Yahoo! Sports.

Among the expected outcomes from the settlement include the NCAA and universities sharing revenue directly with student-athletes. There could be “millions of dollars” paid to players as soon as fall 2025, according to the AP.

The model for revenue sharing with student-athletes “will cost major conferences a cumulative $1 billion-plus annually,” according to Yahoo! Sports, and schools can share up to $22 million with student-athletes per year — a figure that “was derived from 22% of an average of power conference revenues” and subject to change and exceptions.

According to Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel of ESPN, any Division I athlete dating back to 2016 is eligible to receive a share as part of the settlement class. These athletes therefore drop their claims in three antitrust lawsuits — House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA — and cannot sue the NCAA for other antitrust-related reasons.

Roster size could also be affected as a result of the changes expected after the settlement. According to Yahoo! Sports, scholarship restrictions could be eliminated while roster limits would be implemented.

Bankruptcy was reportedly at risk had the settlement not been reached among the NCAA and Power 5 regarding the lawsuits.

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The ability for student-athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness began when the NCAA implemented policy in July 2021. Since, college athletics has seen a flurry of changes in almost the past three years, including in areas such as the conference realignment and the transfer portal. Texas senator Ted Cruz hosted an NIL roundtable on Capitol Hill in March discussing its impacts and urging Congress to pass college athletics legislation.

According to Yahoo! Sports, there is likely a five-to-eight month time period before finalization of the settlement to account for official filing, judge approval and individual plaintiff objections among other things.

Final details will be submitted to the court and Judge Claudia Wilken in the next 30 days, according to ESPN.

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Many have wondered when the federal government might get involved among the NCAA surrounding topics such as name, image and likeness, and things are getting down to crunch time in Congress.

Texas senator Ted Cruz hosted an NIL roundtable Tuesday on Capitol Hill. Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban was in attendance and shared his perspectives on how NIL has impacted college football since its inception in 2021, in addition to being joined by Crimson Tide athletics director Greg Byrne, Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Jim Phillips and women’s basketball players Hanna Cavinder and Haley Cavinder among others.

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Saban has said NIL played a factor into his surprising retirement announced in January. Among the changes in college athletics also include the evolution of the transfer portal and conference realignment, and Saban experienced change in almost every aspect of coaching compared to when he started.

“All the things that I’ve believed in for all these years — 50 years of coaching — no longer exist in college athletics,” Saban said. “So it’s always about developing players. It was always about helping people be more successful in life.”

It didn’t become apparent to him until a conversation with his wife Terry Saban sparked a change in thought.

“She came to me like right before I retired and said, ‘Why are we doing this?'” Saban said. “And I said, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ She said, ‘All they care about is how much you’re going to pay them. They don’t care about how you’re going to develop them, which is what we’ve always done, so why are we doing this.’ So, you know, to me, that was sort of a red alert that we really are creating a circumstance here that is not beneficial to the development of young people.”

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Currently, the NCAA cannot enforce its NIL rules as the ongoing Tennessee and Virginia lawsuit plays out. This means that the possibility of third parties reaching out to recruits about possible NIL deals becomes more of a reality.

The possibility of student-athletes becoming “employees” was also a topic of discussion during the roundtable. Revenue sharing with student-athletes was discussed.

Saban set out upon his retirement to become an advocate for student-athletes. He’s said he wants to help “improve the quality of life” for players and still shape them to be better people.

The direction that college athletics is heading is unclear. There are many areas that still need addressed, whether that involves the federal government or not, and it remains to be seen just how soon legislation from Congress could be implemented to work out some of the issues that are prevalent today.

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Florida State’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously “to sue the ACC to challenge the legality of the league’s grant of rights and its $130 million withdrawal fee,” according to Andrea Adelson of ESPN.

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The current ACC grant of rights binds Florida State to the conference for 12 more years, according to Ralph D. Russo of The Associated Press.

According to the AP, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips and Virginia president and Chairman of the conference’s board of director Jim Ryan said “Florida State’s actions are ‘in direct conflict with their longstanding obligations and is a clear violation of their legal commitments to the other members of the conference.’”

During the meeting, Florida State outside counsel David Ashburn said “the ACC’s grant of rights violates antitrust law and has unenforceable withdrawal penalties,” according to the AP.

Florida State explored in August a possible move out of the ACC. University President Richard McCullough said “the current landscape of the distribution of revenue within the ACC is not enough.”

According to ESPN, Florida State alleges “chronic fiduciary mismanagement and bad faith” in “the way the ACC has handled its multimedia rights agreements and undermined its members’ revenue opportunities.”

Among the others reasons Florida State is moving forward with a lawsuit against the ACC is “breach of contract and failure to perform,” according to ESPN.

The exit fee, in totality including the forfeiture of television revenue, “would be $572 million,” according to ESPN.

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According to ESPN, “if a judge grants declaratory judgment in favor of Florida State, the school would be able to leave the ACC without penalty,” and it would be effective Aug. 14, 2023, to “ensure Florida State could leave the conference in event of new bylaws being put into place.”

No school has ever challenged a conference’s grant of rights in court, according to ESPN.

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