Ohio State Buckeyes AD Reveals Major Cost-Cutting Plans For Olympic Sports

The Ohio State Buckeyes' Athletic Director, Ross Bjork, discussed major cost-cutting plans for Olympic sports.

Jan 17, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ross Bjork speaks during an introductory press conference for Ohio State University’s new athletic director at the Covelli Center. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been considering making some major budget changes in the future.

Many of the biggest changes are going to be made due to the House v. NCAA lawsuit, an antitrust lawsuit filed against the NCAA by Grant House, who is a former Arizona State swimmer.

House v. NCAA combines three antitrust cases from student athletes challenging the NCAA's name, image, and likeness rules.

Basically, the settlement will give schools the ability to directly pay athletes. Bjork stated that the settlement is the first "legal roadmap" to follow for the next decade.

It will require $2.8 billion in backpay to former NCAA athletes in a 10-year period. Also, schools will be able to opt into revenue sharing for the future.

Bjork has also stated that a large amount of the back-payments will end up going to football and men's basketball. He hopes to have a more concrete plan laid out by the first quarter of next year.

Also coming from this situation will be the elimination of NCAA scholarship limits per sport and will put into place a roster limit per sport. Those new changes will be put into place next year.

Due to the roster limits, Bjork said that the Buckeyes stand to lose around 150 athletes.

Despite all of the changes, Bjork is hoping to keep all 36 teams that Ohio State has in place.

"There is a lot of work to be done, a lot that is on the table."

Matt Brown of Extra Points predicted that Ohio State will "slash funding in many of their Olympic sports." He also expects many other Big Ten teams to do the same.

Ohio State's new leadership has been telegraphing this sentiment. They're gonna slash funding in many of their Olympic sports. I expect many Big Ten teams to do the same...and perhaps even the conference.

Few outright sport drops, big scholarship cuts https://t.co/iDrWK75EFR pic.twitter.com/dUFWfeWf8V

— Matt Brown (@MattBrownEP) August 22, 2024

All of that being said, a lot of changes seem to be coming in the near future. We'll surely have more clarity on what will come from all of this before too long.