The NCAA Board of Governors voted Wednesday night to agree to the terms of the settlement in House v. NCAA and related antitrust cases, sources told ESPN, joining three power conferences so far to move forward with a historic change in the way college sports are operated.
The Big 12 and ACC voted to accept the terms of the agreement on Tuesday, and the Big Ten joined them on Wednesday. The two remaining defendants named in the lawsuit, the SEC and Pac-12, are expected to vote to approve the terms later this week as well. The NCAA board did not vote unanimously Wednesday, a source told ESPN.
The NCAA board vote was expected, but perhaps more symbolic. The board's vote in favor of an agreement that would allow schools to pay players represents a formal breaking of a decades-long tether to unpaid amateurism.
Terms of the settlement call for the NCAA to provide more than $2.7 billion to former athletes over the next decade for back injuries related to the association's name, image and likeness restrictions, according to sources. The conferences also agreed to create a forward-looking system that will allow schools to pay approximately $20 million a year in permissive revenue sharing to athletes. Those direct payments, an unprecedented paradigm shift in college sports, would likely begin in the fall of 2025.
By settling, the schools and the NCAA avoid going to trial, where they could have had to pay more than $4 billion in damages if they lost, which legal experts considered a likelihood considering the NCAA's recent poor record. in court cases. According to sources, the plaintiffs will also agree to dismiss two other pending antitrust cases against the NCAA that could have added billions of dollars in damages to an already overwhelming total.
College athletics leaders have widely acknowledged that while a settlement in the House case is an important step forward, it will not resolve all of the legal and governance issues that have destabilized their longstanding business model. While some college leaders are skeptical that the deal provides a clear path forward and other college sports leaders disagreed on how the financial burden of the deal payments would be shared between conferences, sources told ESPN that it is expected to reach an agreement by the end of the week. Leagues only need a majority vote to approve the current terms.
Sources have indicated that it will take at least six months to discuss details, such as how Title IX laws will apply to future payments and whether they can reduce spending in the NIL market.
While the settlement is a big step forward, there are several steps left before the lawsuits are officially resolved. The two sides will have to submit a more detailed settlement agreement to Judge Claudia Wilken, and all Division 1 athletes will have several months to review the terms and decide whether they want to object or opt out of the class action settlement. This process will take months to reach a conclusion.
ESPN's Adam Rittenberg contributed to this report.
