The House Settlement

About the House Settlement

On June 6, 2025, Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved the class action settlement in the House v. NCAA (“House“) litigation, a landmark agreement resolving certain antitrust claims against the NCAA and the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC (the “Defendant Conferences”). The settlement allows participating institutions to share revenue directly with student-athletes and provided specified compensation to eligible current and former student-athletes, along with new opportunities for current and future student-athletes going forward.

Division I schools outside the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC have the option to “opt in” to the new model if they would like to provide additional scholarships or participate in revenue sharing with their student-athletes; doing so requires abiding by all relevant NCAA rules. Even institutions that do not opt in are still required to report third-party NIL deals valued at $600 or more in aggregate for their student-athletes.

Download Legal Settlement

Revenue Sharing

Cap: Each year, schools can share with student-athletes up to 22% of the average revenue among schools in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships – known as the revenue sharing cap.

Annual Increase: With a few potential exceptions, the cap will increase by 4% each year for the first three years, with a full recalculation planned in Year 4; the amount of revenue share will be calculated and published in the spring of each year.

Estimated 2026-27 Cap: Each school can distribute up to approximately $21.3 million to student-athletes for the 2026-27 academic year. The final cap figure will be confirmed during the academic year.

For more information on revenue sharing:
Revenue Sharing

NIL Rights & Opportunities

Revenue Share: Schools can enter into revenue share agreements directly with student-athletes; these agreements are subject to the annual cap.

Third-Party NIL: NCAA Division I student-athletes, whether their institutions have opted in to revenue sharing or not, must report any third-party NIL deals with a total value of $600 or more (including contracts or payments with the potential to meet or exceed $600 via payment structures including but not limited to royalties, contingencies, and bonuses) in aggregate.

NIL Go: The College Sports Commission utilizes NIL Go, an online portal built with assistance from Deloitte, to determine whether third-party NIL deals are made with the purpose of using a student-athlete’s NIL to advance a valid business purpose and do not exceed a reasonable range of compensation.

For more information about student-athlete NIL deals:
NIL

Additional Benefits

Maintains Existing Student-Athlete Benefits: Support for student-athletes, including athletic scholarships, access to world-class training facilities, academic counseling, medical care, post-eligibility medical coverage, mental health resources, nutrition guidance, and life skills development.

Removal of Scholarship Limits: Removal of previous NCAA scholarship limits allows schools to offer more full and partial athletic scholarships to more student-athletes across sports.

Damages

Eligible current and former student-athletes will be paid approximately $2.78 billion in past damages over the course of the settlement’s 10 year term.

The House class counsel, through the settlement administrator, will distribute those damages to current and former athletes.

Student-athletes seeking more information on past damages should visit:
College Athlete Compensation

Benefits of the settlement

Provides enhanced financial benefits and scholarship opportunities for student-athletes.

Provides institutions with more operational clarity:

  • More stability
  • Increased transparency on NIL
  • Clear & uniform rules
Resolves ongoing litigation and defines payments for past damages, thus avoiding existential liability for college athletics programs.