A federal judge opened the final hearing for a landmark $2.8 billion settlement that will impact every corner of college athletics by saying she will not be granting formal approval on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said she would hear from attorneys and some of those objecting to the plan before adjourning.
“I’m not going to rule from the bench,” Wilken said at the start of the hearing, which had about 100 people—including attorneys, past, present and future athletes, and reporters—in attendance.
Testimony was expected from critics of the sprawling plan that was hashed out last year by attorneys representing the NCAA and other defendants and those representing thousands of current and former athletes. LSU gymnast and influencer Olivia Dunne was among the 18 people scheduled to testify, though she was expected to appear via Zoom.
Wilken already has granted preliminary approval of the settlement involving the NCAA and the nation’s five largest conferences. The changes would begin July 1, clearing the way for each school to share up to $20.5 million each with their athletes.
The settlement also calls for replacing scholarship limits with roster limits. The effect would be to allow every athlete to be eligible for a scholarship while cutting the number of spots available. There will be winners and losers under such a formula, though some fear it could signal the end of the walk-on athlete in college sports and also imperil smaller sports programs that train and populate the U.S. Olympic team.
Steven Molo, an attorney for a group of athletes objecting to the plan, told the judge that roster limits would unnecessarily limit opportunities. He noted that football teams would be capped at 105 players. The average roster size in 2024 was 128.
The most ground-shifting part of the settlement calls on schools from the biggest conferences to pay some 22% of their revenue from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships — which equals about $20.5 million in the first year—directly to athletes for use of their name, images and likeness (NIL).
Still allowed would be NIL payments to athletes from outside sources, which is what triggered the seismic shift that college sports has endured over the last four years.
