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07/01 17:28 CDT NCAA's House settlement era begins, shaking up college
athletics as some schools opt out
NCAA's House settlement era begins, shaking up college athletics as some
schools opt out
By MAURA CAREY
AP Sports Writer
The NCAA's House settlement era launched on Tuesday, with athletic programs
across the country free to start paying millions to their athletes in the
biggest change in the history of college athletics.
It's the death of the NCAA's longstanding amateur model, certain to cause
headaches and disputes among powerhouse and small-time programs alike.
Scattered among them, however, is a handful of schools that have decided to
wait it out at least a year to see how things develop, including legal risks
and Title IX concerns.
Call them the opt-outs.
The Ivy League removed itself from the conversation early, saying in January
its schools --- which do not award athletic scholarships --- will not
participate. Military rules bar Navy, Air Force, and Army from compensating
athletes. But alongside the academies are others choosing to watch the
settlement unfold from the sidelines during year one.
The deadline for schools to opt out was Monday. There were very few
announcements. Among them: Nebraska-Omaha and Montana.
"Although we welcome the approval and intent of the settlement, our mission
remains to protect the interests of our current student-athletes while honoring
UNO's core values as we transition to a new era," the university wrote in a
statement.
Omaha cited Title IX compliance as a reason, which according to attorney Mit
Winter should be a legitimate concern for universities opting in.
"A lot of people think Title IX doesn't mandate that the rev-share dollars be
paid out the same way that athletic scholarships have to be paid out, which is
proportional to the male-female student population," Winter told The Associated
Press. "Most P4 schools, 90 to 95% of their $20.5 million are going to go to
male athletes --- football and basketball in most cases."
Another noteworthy opt-out is Montana, whose football team consistently
competes at a high level. Athletic director Kent Haslam informed multiple
outlets of the university's decision.
Montana will save revenue-sharing dollars as a result, but opting out could
come with a hefty price. Roughly three hours down the road, Montana's
arch-rival, Montana State, has opted in.
"It makes it much harder to compete in recruiting if schools you're competing
against are able to pay their athletes up to $20.5 million and you're not able
to pay them anything," Winter said. "In my view, Montana State just gave
themselves a huge advantage in recruiting over Montana."
Plenty of opt-ins won't even scratch the $20.5 million cap. But regardless of
finances, most schools have chosen to partake in the settlement to stay
competitive in an evolving college sports landscape.
"There are a lot of schools that feel the obligation to opt in to remain
competitive. I do think it offers a bit more structure for some of those larger
schools that have been spending a lot of time trying to build a collective and
raise money so that they could keep their best athletes. And then there are
other schools that just aren't in the same category. From a dollars and cents
perspective, it just doesn't make sense across the board," attorney Michael
Rueda said.
With limited resources and difficulties adapting to name, image and likeness
ventures, Rueda explained that smaller schools face significant challenges
against deep-pocketed universities.
"I would envision that a lot of those schools can't even fathom how to make
this jump yet," Rueda said. "They were struggling even before this trying to
understand how institutional NIL worked. They probably were just coming to
terms with how some of that stuff might have been feasible for them, and now
you're completely changing the game, and so, they have to get up to speed and
figure out what this looks like for a school of that size with limited
resources, budget staff and all that."
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AP sports writer Eddie Pells contributed to this report.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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