US Colleges Could Pay Athletes Millions as a Federal Judge Authorizes a $2.8 Billion Settlement

As the multibillion-dollar industry rips apart the last traces of the amateur model that defined it for over a century, a federal judge approved what is likely the biggest change in college sports history on Friday, paving the way for schools to start paying their athletes millions as early as next month.

Grant House (photo: Jack Spitser)

U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the final proposal that had been stalled by roster limits, nearly five years after Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA and its five largest conferences to lift revenue-sharing restrictions. This is just one of many changes that will be made in the wake of worries that thousands of walk-on athletes will no longer be able to participate in collegiate athletics.

The so-called House settlement’s broad provisions include approving each institution to distribute up to $20.5 million to athletes over the course of the following year and $2.7 billion to thousands of former players who were denied access to that cash for years.

How does it affect US college athletes in the near term?

Steve Berman, one of the principal plaintiff lawyers, described Friday’s announcement as “a fantastic win for hundreds of thousands of college athletes.”

The deal causes a huge upheaval for hundreds of schools that have to face the fact that their athletes are the ones generating the billions of dollars in television and other income, primarily from basketball and football, that keep this machine running.

It’s hard to overestimate the extent of the changes, some of which have already started. Athletes whose schools have chosen to scale back their programs will feel the effects of the professionalization of collegiate athletics, which is evident in the high-stakes and costly recruitment of players on route to the NFL and NBA. Nearly 500,000 athletes from the 1,100 member schools of the NCAA will benefit from the pact.

The agreement “opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports,” according to NCAA President Charlie Baker.

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