Virginia Commonwealth Opts Into House Settlement Revenue Sharing

Beginning next school year, VCU will invest in its student-athletes by participating in revenue-sharing as part of the House vs. NCAA settlement.

Mar 8, 2024; Dayton, Ohio, USA; Dayton Flyers forward Petras Padegimas (12) battles for a rebound against Virginia Commonwealth Rams guard Max Shulga (11) and guard Zeb Jackson (2) during the second half of the game at University of Dayton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Lunsford-Imagn Images / Matt Lunsford-Imagn Images

Virginia Commonwealth will begin to pay its student-athletes at the start of the 2025-26 athletic year, according to a report in Richmond. com.

VCU will be doing so through revenue-sharing and the amount will reportedly be about $5 million. Universities in Virginia with bigger athletic budgets will likely opt in and pay more.

This recent change in VCU's financial model was contingent upon the results of a lawsuit that was placed against the NCAA. In December, the House vs. NCAA settlement was approved to allow student-athletes to be compensated through revenue sharing, along with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money.

Based on the settlement, athletic programs can share up to $20 million with student-athletes in the first year, and that amount will increase each successive year by about 4%. Athetic programs can opt-in or opt-out. VCU has decided to opt in, but doesn't have the resources to pay the full amount. That's less of an issue since it doesn't play football.

Since 2021, VCU players have been able to sign private sponsorship deals through NIL and will continue to be able to do so. VCU has a collective, Rams Unlimited, but it's not clear yet what role the collective will have based on the settlement.

But, in April, a new Virginia law allowed state universities to directly play student-athletes through NIL deals. This could give VCU another conduit to compensate players outside of the revenue-sharing.

Ed McLaughlin, VCU's athletic director, stated that new streams of revenue must be found in order to pay these players. VCU's original estimate ranged from $3 million to $5 million.

VCU will adopt this new collegiate model to keep up with the rest of the industry. While the Rams won't be able to keep up with the state's larger universities, which play in power conferences and bring in large streams of revenue, Richmond.com reported that VCU's expected opt-in amount is on par with many of the Atlantic-10 basketball schools, most of which don't play football.

The VCU men's basketball team is currently sitting at 10-4 overall and No. 9 in the A-10 standings. The women's team is currently ranked No. 10 in the A-10 with a 6-7 overall record.

While the revenue-sharing is for student-athletes on athletic teams next school year, VCU will also surrender approximately $140,000 for past revenue-sharing as part of the settlement.