House Settlement Concludes, Paves Way for Schools to Pay Athletes Directly

The landmark House v. NCAA settlement has drawn to a close, with United States District Court judge Claudia Wilken giving the green light on Friday, June 6 for $2.8 billion in back pay damages payable from the NCAA to student athletes active between 2016 and the present day: athletes who otherwise would have received compensation for their talents under Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) guidelines.

The ruling paves the way for universities to pay their student athletes directly for their services, rather than compensating them through third party NIL deals and benefits like academic scholarships toward tuition and room and board.

The NCAA will cap payments from schools to their athletes at $20.5 million during the 2025-26 academic year, which formally begins on July 1, and that dollar amount will increase from year to year over the next decade. Student athletes will still receive scholarships and other benefits for their services in addition to any payments earned.

With the House settlement out of the way, the NCAA rules committee will review another landmark proposal, one that would grant all college athletes a fifth year of eligibility moving forward. Per a report from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the league wanted to wait until the settlement’s conclusion to move forward with that decision.