The House v. NCAA Settlement Explained: What It Means for the Future of Pay for College Student-Athletes

The House v. NCAA settlement is finally here, and it could change the world of college sports forever.

Starting July 1, 2025, NCAA member universities will be allowed (but not required) to pay their student-athletes directly, but there’s a lot to think about. How exactly will schools pay their student-athletes? Who will keep everything fair? Will this settlement fix the problems in college sports or just create new ones?

Let’s break it down.

Key Changes in College Sports Due to the House vs. NCAA Settlement

• Back Pay for Student-Athletes: College athletic departments and the NCAA will pay $2.8 billion in back pay to student-athletes who competed in the NCAA from 2016 through June 6, 2025 (the date of the settlement approval). This money will be spread out over 10 years (2025 – 2035), and players in football and men’s basketball are expected to receive the largest share.
• Revenue Sharing: This is the big one. Over the next 10 years, college athletic departments that opt into the settlement agreement will be able to share revenue directly with student-athletes, starting at $20.5 million per school and rising each year. There will be a salary cap placed on the amount each student-athlete can receive from this $20.5 million.
• Roster Limits and New Rules: Beginning July 1, 2025, colleges will no longer be restricted by the “head count” scholarship model. Instead, schools will be permitted to offer each student-athlete a full, partial, or no scholarship at all. Each sport will now have its own roster cap, which may increase or decrease depending on the sport. For example:
  • Football teams will be capped at 105 total roster spots, with scholarships distributed at varying levels. Previously, schools could carry rosters of 130 (including walk-ons) but were limited to offering 85 full scholarships.
  • Men’s basketball rosters will expand from 13 to 15 players.
  • Women’s soccer will now be limited to 28 players – down from 30+ at many schools when walk-ons were included.

Colleges had the option to opt in or opt out of the House settlement. Those that opt in agree to follow the new roster limits and must participate in the revenue share. Schools that opt out are not required to follow the new roster or scholarship restrictions, and are not permitted to pay athletes through the revenue share model.

• Enforcement of New Rules: A new organization, the College Sports Commission (CSC), will be in charge of enforcing the new rules. This includes making sure colleges are following the new revenue-sharing system and ensuring NIL deals are legitimate. The CSC is a separate entity from the NCAA and focuses on enforcing the House settlement regulations.

Winners and Losers in the New College Sports World

The House v. NCAA settlement marks a major shift in how college athletics will operate – and not everyone will feel the impact the same way. While some student-athletes and programs stand to benefit significantly, others may face new challenges as the landscape evolves. Below is a breakdown of who’s gaining ground and who could be left behind in this new era of college sports.

Winner: Athletes in Football and Basketball
The biggest winners are the student-athletes in the “revenue sports” – mainly football and men’s basketball. These sports have been making universities millions of dollars, but the players didn’t get a slice of the pie until now.

Under the new settlement, schools will pay top student-athletes a significant amount of money on top of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. It’s a huge change from just a decade ago, when student-athletes were fighting for smaller cost-of-attendance stipends. Now, high profile players in these sports could be making millions.

Winner: The Future of Collective Bargaining
Now that student-athletes can get paid directly, the conversation is shifting to the idea of collective bargaining – which is basically a fancy way of saying that student-athletes might start forming unions to negotiate better deals. College sports might soon look a lot more like professional sports in terms of salaries and contracts.

Loser: Non-Power 4 Schools
For non-Power 4 schools, keeping up with the financial powerhouses like the Big Ten and the SEC will become even harder. With the new revenue-sharing system, these schools may not have enough money to fund their teams at the same level as the larger schools.

Loser: Non-Revenue Sports
College sports like tennis, swimming, and track (such as non-revenue generating sports or Olympic sports) may face tough times ahead. With more money going to football and basketball, colleges may choose to cut back on funding for other sports. This could mean each college may offer fewer scholarships, allocate less funding for coaches, and may even choose to eliminate specific sports teams.

Key Dates Regarding the House vs. NCAA Settlement

With major changes on the horizon, it’s important for student-athletes and families to stay on top of the timeline. The rollout of the House v. NCAA settlement includes several key milestones that will impact eligibility, roster management, and revenue sharing. Here are the critical dates to watch as the new rules take effect:

• June 6, 2025: Settlement approved; settlement-related NCAA rules are effective, as adopted by the NCAA Division I Board on April 21, 2025
• June 11, 2025: NIL Go portal launches
• June 15, 2025: Opt-in deadline for non-defendant schools to fully commit to revenue sharing
• July 1, 2025: First date for direct institutional revenue sharing payments to student-athletes
• July 6, 2025: Opt-in schools must “designate” student-athletes permitted by the settlement to remain above roster limits
• Start of 2025 – 26 Academic Year: With the exception of the “designated” student-athletes, fall sports must be at or below roster limits by their first day of competition
• Dec. 1, 2025: With the exception of “designated” student-athletes, winter and spring sports must be at or below roster limits by their first day of competition or Dec. 1, whichever is earlier

So is Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) over?

The short answer is NIL is still alive and well. House settlement revenue sharing will be a student-athlete benefit on top of NIL contracts.
Since 2021, college student-athletes have benefited from the opportunity to make money through deals involving their name, mage, and likeness. Boosters – people and businesses who donate to college athletic programs – quickly set up groups called “collectives” to use this NIL money to pay players.

In some cases, these collectives were paying millions of dollars, mostly to top football and basketball players. With the House settlement, that money will now be coming directly from the school’s athletic department. For schools that did not opt in to the House settlement, their collectives can remain and continue to pay their student-athletes for NIL.

The money student-athletes make through NIL deals that are above $600 will be tracked in a system called NIL Go. This means NIL can no longer be used just to pay players to join a team. This change was one motivator for many high school student-athletes to commit for the Fall 2025 season before these new rules were announced to ensure they could lock in a deal based on the old rules, which allowed for bigger payouts.

One major factor in NIL success is a school’s location and proximity to business opportunities. Colleges in large markets with a strong corporate presence are more likely to attract companies looking to partner with student-athletes.

The Big Picture

This settlement is a big step in the ongoing fight to reshape college sports. It’s not the end of the story, though. There are still many legal challenges ahead, like whether college student-athletes should be treated as employees, which would have big implications for the way they’re paid and how their contracts work. But for now, the House v. NCAA settlement marks a turning point in the way college sports operate.

For high school student-athletes, this means that NIL deals could become even more important, and the level of scrutiny around these deals is likely to increase. It’s a time of big changes in college sports, and we’ll be watching to see how everything unfolds over the next few years.

By Courtney Rickard, Honest Game Director of Academics and Compliance
As a former Senior Associate Athletic Director at the NCAA Division I level and with more than 20 years of experience in collegiate athletics, Courtney has advised thousands of student-athletes through the college recruiting and eligibility process for college sports. Interested in virtual counseling with Courtney? Sign up here.