The NCAA approved new rules on Monday that will radically change the landscape of college sports by allowing universities to directly pay their athletes, a move stemming from a multibillion-dollar lawsuit settlement set to take effect this summer. The nine proposals passed by the NCAA board, though widely expected, mark a significant departure from decades of tradition in college sports.
These new regulations will allow colleges to pay athletes directly, something that has been prohibited until now. However, the changes will only become official once a federal judge grants final approval, which may involve adjustments after a recent court hearing. The new rules, which are expected to be implemented on July 1, will eliminate around 150 existing NCAA rules and amend many others.
Key aspects of the settlement include:
- Modifying bylaws to enable schools to pay athletes directly.
- Removing scholarship limits, while introducing roster limits that will replace the previous scholarship caps. Some of the specifics of these roster limits, which were debated in the April 7 hearing, are still being finalized.
- Establishing annual reporting requirements for schools that pay athletes, with a payment pool of approximately $20.5 million allocated for the largest schools starting next academic year.
- Setting up a clearinghouse for all name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals worth $600 or more, made with third parties.
- Granting enforcement authority to a new body created by the conferences named in the lawsuit, which will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the new rules on player payments, roster limits, and third-party NIL deals.
- Allowing the development of technology platforms for schools to track athlete payments and for athletes to report their third-party NIL deals.
- Requiring athletes to be enrolled full-time and making progress toward their degree in order to receive payments.
The NCAA also received updates on a working group tasked with finding ways to simplify its governance structure, a topic of interest as larger conferences push for more influence in certain areas.
