Judge Approves NCAA Athlete Pay Settlement

Judge Claudia Wilken has granted final approval to the House v. NCAA settlement, allowing NCAA Division I schools to directly pay athletes for the first time. Beginning July 1, each school can share up to $20.5 million annually with athletes, and this cap will rise over the next decade. The agreement includes $2.8 billion in retroactive payments to athletes who were prevented from earning between 2016 and 2024. The settlement introduces new roster limits and allows affected athletes to transfer without penalty, while establishing a regulatory framework for name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals with third-party oversight. Nearly all of the NCAA’s 1,100 member schools and about half a million athletes are impacted, and states are considering law updates to remain competitive. The settlement marks the end of the NCAA’s amateurism era, though debates over employment status and antitrust issues continue.