House v. NCAA
House v. NCAA is a lawsuit that has imposed billions of dollars in new costs on college sports, much of it going to plaintiffs' attorneys. Only a small percentage of the negotiated settlement will flow to college athletes, and many will see programs eliminated due to the expenses.
| “ | The NCAA and Power Five conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC) have agreed to a settlement in the House v. NCAA case, which threatened to cost the organizations a potential $4 billion in treble damages had the case gone to trial.
Instead, the parties have agreed to $2.8 billion in damages to former college athletes and 22% of the average Power 5 school’s revenues. That amount is estimated at more than $20 million annually per school for future revenue sharing ....[1] |
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Giant contraction
As reported by the generally liberal Sports Illustrated, far more will be hurt by this settlement than will benefit:
| “ | College athletics, which for the past half century have been available to hundreds of thousands of young men and women, are on the verge of a severe contraction — a gigantic reduction of opportunity ....
Widespread program cutting would appear to be in Wyoming’s future. And for hundreds, if not thousands of other schools. |
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Example
Texas A&M is one of the wealthiest athletic programs in the country, but might have to cut programs under the financial burdens imposed by the settlement. Texas A&M scholarships are as follows:[2]
- Football (85)
- Women's Track & Field/Cross Country (18)
- Women's Basketball (15)
- (Women's) Equestrian (15)
- (Women's) Soccer (14)
- Women's Swimming & Diving (14)
- Men's Basketball (13)
- Men's Track & Field/Cross Country (12.6)
- (Women's) Softball (12)
- (Women's) Volleyball (12)
- Baseball (11.7)
- Men's Swimming & Diving (9.9)
- Women's Tennis (8)
- Women's Golf (6)
- Men's Golf (4.5)
- Men's Tennis (4.5)