The NCAA and its powerful conferences “Deep talk” In an effort to resolve the House v. NCAA lawsuit, details have emerged about what the future of college athletes' compensation will look like.

The House v. NCAA lawsuit, filed in 2020 by former Arizona State University swimmer Grant House, alleges that the NCAA's name, image and likeness (NIL) rules violate both “federal antitrust law and common law.” The suit, which was certified as a class action last November, seeks damages dating back to 2016 for athletes who were not allowed to collect compensation from their NIL.

The suit is scheduled to go to court in January 2025. Experts estimate the NCAA could be on the hook for more than $4 billion in damages if it loses, and in recent months prominent industry leaders have been pushing for a settlement. On Thursday afternoon, Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger said: report Details of the settlement agreement are beginning to emerge as leaders work to meet a deadline set by lawyers looms.

According to ESPN, the NCAA will likely “pay a share of the settlement, estimated to be more than $2.7 billion.” The parties have proposed that “the NCAA national office, not the NCAA's member schools or conferences, would pay the money.” The settlement, which dates back to 2016, will be paid to “former college athletes who claim they were illegally prevented from making money through the sale of their name, image and likeness.”

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More significant than the cost of the settlement are the details of the revenue-sharing agreements it contains. Deranger reports that the agreements, expected to last for the next 10 years, “may impose costs on each of the utilities.” [conference] The school will cost $300 million over 10 years, or $30 million a year.”

These costs include “(1) a revenue-sharing cap of $17 million to $22 million for athletes; (2) at least $2 million in withholding NCAA distributions for back injuries; and (3) up to $10 million in additional scholarship costs associated with expanding roster sizes by sport, a concept that has not previously been made public.”

The $30 million annual figure represents roughly 15 percent of the current annual athletic budgets of the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

According to Dellenger, “the revenue-sharing portion of the new model is 'permissive,'” so schools don't have to hit the cap or share revenue at all, but if they don't, they'll be at a significant recruiting disadvantage.

According to the report, schools will also be able to expand scholarships at their own discretion regarding “new enrollment limits that will be implemented across all sanctioned sports.”

The settlement deadline is looming in early June, and details regarding the revenue sharing model are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Charles Vaughn is a contributing writer for Yellow Hammer News.