### Historic Shift in College Sports: Schools Authorized to Pay Athletes

In a landmark decision, schools are now legally permitted to directly compensate their athletes, setting a new precedent in college sports. This development follows Judge Claudia Wilken's approval of a historic multibillion-dollar legal settlement on Friday. The agreement involves the NCAA, its premier conferences, and lawyers representing all Division I athletes.

The approved settlement resolves three federal antitrust lawsuits that accused the NCAA of unlawfully capping college athletes' earnings. The long-anticipated verdict comes as a significant shift looms over the college sports landscape, with schools preparing to commence payments to athletes by July 1. The tight window means institutions and conferences must swiftly establish new regulatory frameworks.

Over the next decade, the NCAA is set to disburse around $2.8 billion in back damages to athletes who participated in college sports from 2016 to the present. Additionally, starting in the 2025-26 academic year, each school can allocate up to approximately $20.5 million annually to pay its athletes, with this cap expected to increase year-on-year. These payments will supplement existing scholarships and benefits.

This ruling is a pivotal step towards abolishing old amateurism rules in major college sports. Since 2021, athletes could make money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), though the bulk of this funding was managed by booster groups. Now, compensation will come directly from athletic departments.

Following a unanimous Supreme Court decision in June 2021, which dictated that college athletics should be seen more as a commercial enterprise than an educational pursuit, the landscape has faced numerous legal challenges. While this week's settlement marks progress, questions regarding athlete employment status and play duration regulations remain unresolved.

NCAA president Charlie Baker and other leaders believe that the new rules will help regulate excessive and often uncontrolled payments from third parties. They are also hopeful that Congress will intervene with legislation to prevent athletes from being classified as employees and grant the NCAA an antitrust exemption to regulate player salaries and transfers.

To further control booster influence, any endorsement deals between boosters and athletes will now undergo scrutiny to ensure they are genuine business arrangements rather than recruitment incentives. However, some industry insiders remain skeptical about the efficacy of these limits in addressing the growing financial disparities among top NCAA schools.

Alongside these developments, power conferences plan to launch a new enforcement entity, the College Sports Commission, which will oversee payments from both schools and boosters. This organization, still in its formative stages, aims to streamline investigations and penalize rule violations more effectively.

Despite progress, initial reservations about the settlement concerned potential roster limits that could have displaced thousands of athletes. A revised agreement ensures that no athletes will lose their sport opportunities due to the new terms.

Sources indicate that Bryan Seeley, an MLB executive, is a leading candidate to head the new College Sports Commission, a role crucial for guiding this transformative era in college athletics.