Revenue sharing model could be coming to college sports

The SEC and Big Ten conferences are laying out the framework for sharing revenue with their student-athletes, according to reports

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The next seismic change to college athletics could completely uproot the fundamentals of amateurism in U.S. sports.

According to a report from CBS Sports, the SEC and Big Ten conferences are at the center of an unrefined proposal called the “Modern Model” that would lay the framework for revenue sharing with student-athletes. Additionally, the proposal would potentially settle the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit that’s set to go to trial in January 2025. The class-action complaint made by former players could result in the NCAA paying at least $4.2 billion in back pay to thousands of current and former student-athletes.

On Monday night ESPN reported that the Power Four conferences, as well as NCAA president Charlie Baker, NCAA lawyers and the plaintiffs' attorneys, met in the Dallas area and had “deep discussions” over the framework for a revenue-sharing model. There are no details of where that revenue would come from or how it would be distributed.

Even so, the expected price tag universities will have to pay is steep. ESPN sources indicated that the top-end revenue share number per school would be near $20 million annually. Although nothing has been finalized, schools will be able to opt in to share that much with their student-athletes at their discretion. Similar to how a salary cap works in professional sports.

There’s still more to figure out in regard to how the plan would work, but for now, the NCAA is making strides toward protecting itself and resolving some of the major concerns some administrators and athletic departments have voiced over properly compensating their student-athletes. 

The House case is one of four active antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA with an aim to tear down remaining caps that limit how athletes are paid. One of which argues that the NCAA should not be able to prevent schools from paying players directly for their performance (Carter v. NCAA). Both cases are expected to reach settlements.

Additionally, the National Labor Relations Board is reviewing a pair of cases aimed at classifying college athletes as employees, which would allow for unionization. The Dartmouth men’s basketball team voted to unionize in March after the NLRB ruled that the program should be compensated for the labor they provide to the university. It’ll likely take years to sort out however after the school filed for an appeal.

SEC, Big Ten developing plan to share revenue with players in potential landmark change to college athletics - https://t.co/Do0GY2YbwU https://t.co/sWtYbqtBUj

— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) April 30, 2024