After a century of defending amateurism, the NCAA now allows schools to pay athletes directly from revenue sharing. Legal defeats in antitrust cases and chaotic NIL deals left no alternative. This marks the end of college sports’ amateur model and the beginning of something closer to professional minor leagues.
What Really Forced Their Hand
A combination of antitrust lawsuits and Name, Image, and Likeness chaos left the NCAA with no viable alternative to direct payments. On June 6, 2025, Judge Claudia Wilken granted final approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, which required billions in back pay to former athletes for lost NIL opportunities.
Federal judges ruled the NCAA illegally restricted athletes from profiting off their own identities. This massive liability exposed the legal weakness of the amateur model. Meanwhile, wild west NIL deals created competitive imbalances the NCAA couldn’t control. Booster-funded collectives were essentially paying players under the guise of endorsement deals. The new policy allows schools to share up to 22% of average power-conference athletics revenue, roughly $20-21 million per school initially. A structured payment system became the only path forward.
The Money Was Always There
College sports generate billions annually, proving the NCAA always had the financial capacity to compensate athletes fairly. NCAA Division I schools collectively earn over $18 billion per year from athletics, primarily football and basketball. Television contracts alone bring in billions, with the March Madness deal worth $8.8 billion over 14 years.
Yet athletes saw none of this revenue despite being the product fans paid to watch. Coaches and administrators earned multi-million dollar salaries while players received only scholarships worth $50,000-$70,000 annually. Top college football coaches make $8-12 million per year, more than NFL head coaches. The money existed all along. The NCAA just chose not to share it.
