NCAA Faces Billion Antitrust Lawsuit Settlement Decision

Footballs stand ready before the Virginia Tech at Wake Forest NCAA college football game in Winston-Salem, N.C., Saturday Oct. 15, 2011. A settlement being discussed in an antitrust lawsuit aga

This week, university presidents across the country are set to convene to decide on a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA. The settlement, if accepted, would require the NCAA to pay nearly $3 billion and establish a groundbreaking revenue-sharing system with college athletes.

However, there has been resistance from some Division I conferences not involved in major college football. These conferences argue that they are being unfairly burdened with the financial responsibility of the damages portion of the settlement.

The lawsuit, House vs. NCAA, involves the NCAA and the Power Five conferences - Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern. The NCAA and the five conferences must individually vote to approve the settlement.

Resistance from non-Power Five conferences due to financial burden.

University presidents to vote on $3 billion NCAA settlement.

House vs. NCAA lawsuit involves NCAA and Power Five conferences.

Settlement includes $2.7 billion in damages for athletes.

The proposed settlement includes the NCAA covering approximately $2.7 billion in damages over a decade for current and former college athletes who were denied the opportunity to earn money from sponsorship and endorsement deals due to NCAA rules.

The distribution of the financial burden would see the Power Five conferences covering 40% of the damages, while the other 27 Division I conferences would cover the remaining 60%.

Smaller Division I conferences, heavily reliant on NCAA distributions, have expressed concerns about the proposed model for allocating damages. They argue that the current plan disproportionately impacts their conferences.

If approved, the settlement would require each conference to contribute an amount proportional to its share of the total NCAA distribution from 2016-2024. This would result in significant financial commitments from the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and SEC, with each school expected to pay around $20 million per year for 10 years directly to athletes.

While progress has been made towards a settlement, final approval is pending votes from various university boards and NCAA governing bodies. The outcome of these decisions will have far-reaching implications for the future of college athletics and the relationship between student-athletes and the NCAA.