NCAA Pushes Back Full Revenue Sharing Opt-In Date for Non-Defendant Schools

The NCAA is giving more time to non-defendant schools in the House vs. NCAA settlement to determine if they will share revenue with student-athletes.

Matthew Postins | Mar 2, 2025

Jan 19, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; The College Football Playoff National Championship logo at midfield at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the site of the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

As the House vs. NCAA settlement is working its way through the federal court system and member NCAA institutions for completion, March 1 was supposed to mark a significant benchmark in the process.

It was — but for many schools it became an initial benchmark.

The NCAA offered more guidance on the opt-in dates on Feb. 28, the day before the intended date for all member schools to opt-in or opt-out of revenue sharing. In the guidance, shared by Ben Portnoy of SBJ, among others, the NCAA gave its members schools that are not listed as defendants in the House case a staggered set of dates to declare.

On March 1, which was Saturday, non-defendant schools could declare initial intent to opt-in without obligation to do so fully. Then, on June 15 those schools would have the choice to fully opt-in.

The non-defendant schools in this case are the Division I schools that are not members of power conferences and were not named in initial suits. Most of the power conference schools have already declared their intention to share revenue.

The initial opt-in is for schools that intend to provide benefits or are likely to do so. Why? The NCAA appears to be getting a head count of schools that will participate, per the guidance.

“Several aspects of settlement implementation depend on the number of institutions that will participate,” per the guidance document. “The March 1 date is intended to provide an estimate of the volume of institutions that will need to use those services as well as a list of institutions that need to be onboarded and trained. This list will not be made public.”

Assuming the House vs. NCAA settlement is approved, NCAA institutions would be able to begin sharing revenue with student athletes after July 1 for the 2025-26 athletic year. Per the settlement, the pool of revenue to be shared per school is expected to be at least $20 million, with that figure to go up 4-5% each year.

The settlement not only allows for the sharing of revenue with student athletes for the first time, but it also imposes strict roster limits for all sports, in some cases expanding scholarship opportunities for some sports and limiting them for others, most notably football.

Some non-defendant schools intend to share revenue, but not at the maximum allowed. For instance, VCU intends to share approximately $4 million in revenue with its student athletes. While it isn’t sharing at the top level, the Rams don’t have to worry about football, as they don’t field a team.

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