NCAA Proposes New Framework to Pay Athletes at Richest Programs

In a letter to NCAA membership Tuesday, president Charlie Baker outlined a major new proposal to alter the association’s structure and create a new subdivision that would allow the richest programs to more directly compensate athletes through the use of “educational trust funds” and direct NIL arrangements.

Baker’s letter calls for those schools to “invest at least $30,000 per year into an enhanced educational trust fund for at least half of the institution’s eligible student-athletes.” It also would require them to “commit to work with their peer institutions in this subdivision to create rules that may differ from the rules in place for the rest of Division I. Those rules could include a wide range of policies, such as scholarship commitment and roster size, recruitment, transfers or NIL.”

Baker’s proposal represents a radical shift for the NCAA and is aimed at preserving events like the organization’s basketball tournaments. He attended the men’s semifinal between UConn and Miami this year in Houston.

Bob Donnan/USA TODAY Sports