U.S. Judge Announces Ruling On Colleges Paying Student Athletes

On Friday night, the NCAA officially received word on how it’ll be able to compensate athletes moving forward. 

Although it wasn’t a lock to happen, the House v. NCAA settlement was approved by Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court. It’s expected to take effect on July 1, which means colleges will be able to directly pay athletes.

This is undoubtedly one of the biggest decisions made in the history of college sports. Fans might not be fond of it, but this move has formalized a pay-for-play system in the NCAA. 

“This is new terrain for everyone,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said. “Given the defendant conferences’ new ownership of complicated pieces of rulemaking and enforcement, there will be a transition period and certainly bumps in the road. Opportunities to drive transformative change don’t come often to organizations like ours. It’s important we make the most of this one.”

From ESPN:

The settlement gives the schools power to create new rules designed to limit the influence of boosters and collectives. Starting this summer, any endorsement deal between a booster and an athlete will be vetted to ensure it is for a “valid business purpose” rather than a recruiting incentive.

Many sources in the college sports industry have doubts about whether the limit on booster spending — aimed at protecting competitive balance — will be effective in slowing the rapid increase in money flowing to athletes at the NCAA’s richest schools. Some believe the rule will spur new lawsuits.

The power conferences will launch an enforcement organization, called the College Sports Commission, that’ll monitor payments from schools and boosters. 

Not only will the NCAA start paying athletes directly, it’ll dish out nearly $2.8 billion in back damages over the next decade. 

“It seemed like this crazy, outlandish idea at the time of what college athletics could and should be like. It was a difficult process at times … but it’s going to change millions of lives for the better,” former TCU basketball star Sedona Prince told ESPN. 

Do you believe this move will help or hurt the NCAA?

Related: ESPN Makes ‘Stunning’ College Football Playoff Decision

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