Five years of litigation over the future of college sports came to an end on June 6.
The Grant House and Sedona Prince v. NCAA case was settled last week, ushering in a new era of revenue sharing for student-athletes at NCAA Division I programs.
While the settlement offers some clarity on the direction of college athletics, there are still several questions that remain unanswered as the basis of the new era is put into place.
What is House v. NCAA?
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken approved a settlement in the landmark Grant House and Sedona Prince v. NCAA case, commonly referred to as “House vs. NCAA.”
The case was filed in 2020 by Arizona State swimmer Grant House and TCU basketball player Sedona Prince, seeking name, image and likeness damages and an injunction to force the NCAA and its affiliated members to lift restrictions on revenue sharing from television and streaming broadcast rights.
The NCAA voted to settle the lawsuit a year ago for $2.75 billion to be paid to current and former athletes between 2016 and 2024, avoiding a trial and agreeing to a groundbreaking revenue-sharing model that will allow member institutions to directly pay their athletes.
Players can be paid starting July 1, 2025.
This is a 10-year agreement, with the revenue share cap set to increase by at least 4% each year of the agreement.
Member participation
All Power 4 conference schools (those with membership in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC) are required to opt in for the upcoming 2025-26 school year, with the revenue share spending cap for all athletes set at $20.5 million.
With revenue sharing comes new questions about roster limits across non-revenue sports, player payment amounts for football versus other sports and spending priorities across all college athletics. NIL contracts will still be a part of college athletics and will still exist outside of each school’s spending cap, however, they must now be approved through a clearinghouse run by the accounting firm Deloitte to determine fair market value. An online platform named NIL Go is in place to help in the vetting process.
All NIL deals of $600 or more must be reported as of June 7.
MSU and the SEC
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey released a brief statement on the ruling, calling it a “significant milestone for the meaningful support of our student-athletes and a pivotal step toward establishing long-term sustainability for college sports.”
Sankey, who spent the weekend golfing with President Donald Trump, joined the other power conference commissioners on a call on Monday morning, where he expressed strong approval of order in college football and claimed he and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua stressed the need for governmental assistance to codify the settlement terms into law.
Mississippi State Athletic Director Zac Selmon released a lengthy statement on social media over the weekend, one which quoted Henry Ford in an apparent call for a structured evolution of college athletics.
‘The remains of the old must be decently laid away; the path of the new prepared,” he said, quoting Ford. “That is the difference between revolution and progress.’
Selmon noted that MSU athletics, like most power-conference members, has been planning for these anticipated changes since the settlement was first proposed more than a year ago.
“Friday’s settlement in the House vs. NCAA case marks a pivotal moment for college athletics,” Selmon said. “While there are still questions to answer and new territory ahead, this decision allows us to officially move forward with plans to share revenue with our student-athletes. It also affirms what we’ve always believed at Mississippi State: our student-athletes are at the heart of our mission, and their contributions should be valued.”
Selmon added that “more information will be shared in the coming weeks” regarding the restructuring of college athletics.
“We are entering a new era,” Selmon said in the conclusion of his statement. “That brings uncertainty, but also opportunity to grow, to lead and to strengthen the foundation already in place. With this clarity, we can continue building strong, competitive programs for the future.”
The Dispatch reached out for further comment on Monday but was directed back to Selmon’s statement.
Major questions remaining
While this settlement appears to be the beginning of a new order in college sports, there are several issues that lack clarity in the early phases of restructuring.
The P4 conferences have orchestrated the formation of the College Sports Commission, with former MLB executive Bryan Seeley named CEO within hours of the settlement approval on Friday.
The CSC will help govern new rules around revenue sharing, third-party NIL deals and roster construction, but those rules are yet to be written.
In addition to questions of revenue sharing, questions of Title IX also remain unresolved, though Wilken noted in her settlement approval that athletes have the right to file lawsuits from any violations.
The situation is further complicated after a decision by the Trump administration in February to rescind a guidance from the Biden administration that stated name, image and likeness payments implicate the gender equal opportunity requirements of Title IX.
This issue is likely to arise, especially with the reported model determined by Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt to put more than 90% of the $20.5 million revenue sharing funds toward football and men’s basketball.
Arguments for this structure cite the revenue generated by football and men’s basketball, particularly from television contracts, but it raises more questions about how to govern revenue sharing across sports. This is notable for schools like MSU, where baseball is an area of significant investment, or schools like South Carolina and UCONN, where women’s basketball is highly valued.
Rules concerning the allocation of funds also have the potential to impact scholarship and roster limits. The SEC announced last November that football scholarships will remain at 85 for next year. How funding and scholarships for other sports will be impacted is currently unclear.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
