Power Conference Schools Receive Initial Revenue-Sharing Figure: Report

The four power conferences are starting to share more information with their members about initial revenue sharing from the House settlement.

Sep 28, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Big Ten conference logo is seen before a game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the USC Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Power conference schools received a memo from their conference leadership earlier his week outlining the initial cap for revenue sharing in 2025-26, should the House vs. NCAA settlement receive final approval, reports Yahoo Sports.

The projected cap would be $20.5 million, which is a bit below some projections of $22 million and is by no means final. The cap is 22% of Power Four (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) revenues in the previous year. That revenue is expected to increase by 4% each season.

A school may distribute the revenue however it sees fit. But, Yahoo reported that many schools are planning to use the formula used to determine the back damages in the House settlement, which would allow 90% of revenue to football & men’s basketball.

Along with that memo, all NCAA schools received a separate memo that provided a Q&A on aspects of the settlement. Two areas stood out.

First, schools can opt-in and opt-out, but they cannot opt-in and opt-out by athletic program. If a school opts in, it must opt-in for all sports.

Second, The new settlement won’t prohibit student-athletes from leveraging NIL, but they will need to report any deals valued at $600 or more. They must report that to the school and to a third-party entity that will, theoretically, be either the NCAA or one created after the settlement.

The House v. NCAA settlement is a combination of three different cases brought by current and former student-athletes that was initially approved for settlement in October.

It will allow for $2.75 billion in damages will be paid to thousands of college athletes over 10 years as part of restitution for their inability to access things like Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities.

The settlement also caps scholarships and, in some cases, expands them for certain sports through roster limits.

Those limits will exist for all sponsored sports, with the most notable being 105 for football, 15 each for men’s and women’s basketball, 34 for baseball, 25 for softball and 18 for volleyball.

The settlement is currently in a “notice of campaign and claims period.” Current and former student-athletes are receiving the terms and claims procedures for back damages pay, which is expected to start on May 15, 2025. If approved, the average damages award for a football or men’s basketball player at a power conference school will be approximately $135,000.

If things run smoothly, the allocation estimate and the motion for attorneys’ fees, reimbursement of litigation expenses and service awards would take place starting Dec. 17.

The exclusion and objection deadline for the ruling is Jan. 31, 2025, which is also when the claim period closes. Any motions for final approval and response to objections must be filed by March 3, 2025.