Judge gives preliminary approval to $2.78 billion settlement designed to pay college athletes
By EDDIE PELLS
Posted 10/7/24
A judge has given preliminary approval to the $2.78 billion legal settlement that figures to transform college sports. U.S District Judge Claudia Wilken released an order Monday setting a timeline …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Judge gives preliminary approval to $2.78 billion settlement designed to pay college athletes
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck (15) throws from the pocket in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Auburn Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
U.S District Judge Claudia Wilken released an order setting a timeline for a deal that would put millions of dollars into the pockets of college athletes, who can begin making claims later this month.
A final hearing is set for April 7, 2025. If finalized, the deal would allow the biggest schools to have a pool of about $21.5 million in the first year to distribute to athletes via a revenue-sharing plan, but the athletes would still be able to cut name, image and likeness deals with outside groups.
“We are pleased that we are one step closer to a revolutionary change in college athletics that will allow billions in revenue sharing,” said plaintiff attorney Steve Berman.
The judge’s approval comes 11 days after attorneys tweaked wording in the original settlement agreement to address Wilken’s concerns. The main change involved getting rid of the word “boosters” and replacing it with a better-defined description of whose potential NIL deals would be subject to oversight by a neutral arbitrator once the deal goes through.
That did not, however, strike to the heart of the settlement, which sets up a revenue-sharing arrangement between schools and the athletes. The $21.5 million figure comes from the 22% of average revenue that power conference schools generate through media rights, tickets and other sources. It will be recalculated periodically through the 10-year window the agreement covers.