College sports could see a dramatic change. Here’s what you need to know

College athletes could soon get dramatically different paychecks.

At issue is a lawsuit called House v. the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), a class action that seeks to change how collegiate players get paid for the endorsements referred to as name, image and likeness (NIL) deals as well as for a share of broadcast revenue.

The NCAA could have to pay out as much as $20 billion if it loses the case, while a settlement could come to $2.7 billion in back-pay damages as well as a reshuffling of how student athletes are paid.

The NCAA and the conferences will reportedly meet in the coming days to decide on the terms of a settlement.

The lawsuit

The House v. NCAA lawsuit was filed by Grant House and Sedona Prince, two college athletes, against the NCAA and the Power 5 conferences – the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast – in US District Court Northern District of California Oakland Division in 2020.

The lawsuit focused on the eight-year, $8.8 billion extension the NCAA signed to broadcast coverage of the March Madness basketball tournament, as well as seeking back-dated damages for payments the suit calls wrongly withheld.

College sports is a huge business, with enormous sums of money flowing in and out.

Football and basketball at Division I schools – those considered the top of three tiers of college sports – produced revenue of $7.9 billion during the last school year, according to data compiled by the Department of Education.

Overall Division I athletics generated nearly $17.5 billion in revenue in 2022, according to a report by the NCAA, the governing body for college sports.

NIL deals stem from an NCAA policy change in 2021 that allowed student-athletes to profit from sponsorship opportunities.

The move came after California started a nationwide trend in 2019 by passing a law entitling athletes to earn endorsement money, followed by a landmark 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision that said student-athletes could receive education-related…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-sports-could-see-dramatic-075042825.html

Author : CNN

Publish date : 2024-05-23 07:50:42

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