Rutgers, Big Ten Winners in Landmark House v. NCAA NIL Settlement

On June 6th, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California approved the House V. NCAA settlement, a 2.8 billion-dollar agreement to provide back pay over the last ten years to over 400,000 student-atheltes who competed from 2016 to the present. Moving forward, the settlement allows schools to pay upwards of 20.5 million annually in revenue directly to athletes, essentially ending amateurism in college sports.

The Big Ten, already one of the two richest conferences in college sports, will benefit even further with this agreement. The conference brought in 928 million in 2024, with its twelve longest-standing schools receiving 63.2 million each, with Rutgers receiving slightly less at 61.5 million.

Yes, Rutgers runs an overall operating deficit and paying athletes up to 20.5 million dollars from a revenue-sharing pot certainly doesn't help offset the department's net losses. Softening the losses from high operating expenses and facilities upgrades is a problem for incoming President William F. Tate IV and the soon-to-be hired new athletic director to figure out.

Greg Schiano looks to benefit significantly from the House v. NCAA settlement, tapping into school revenue for recruiting. — Jul 23, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Rutgers Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano speaks to the media during the Big 10 football media day at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

For the Big Ten and Rutgers, this is clearly a win and serves to make the conference more competitive moving forward.

"We look forward to implementing this historic settlement designed to bring stability, integrity, and competitive balance to college athletics while increasing both scholarship and revenue opportunities for student-athletes in all sports," said Tony Petitti, Big Ten Comissioner, in a statement.

The court decision also establishes the new College Sports Commission to implement the settlement and oversee Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals and roster limits. The committee will be charged with investigating any violations of the rules.

Of course, Rutgers and the Big Ten aren't the only winners. Athletes in football and basketball stand to benefit the most financially, but even those competing in non-revenue sports have opportunities, particularly at schools who don't have to invest the bulk of their money in football - like recent NCAA Division One champions Cornell in men's lacrosse and Vermont in men's soccer.

For basketball-first conferences like the Big East, they can direct the majoriy of their revenue to one sport without having to siphon off what's remaining after the large expenses of operating a football program with100 players on the roster.

With winners, also comes the losers. In theory, having a clearinghouse in place should rein in rogue boosters from writing millions of dollars in pay-to-play checks to lure the top recruits to play for their favorite teams, without first being properly vetted through the new system. Only time will tell.

To nobody's surprise, the biggest losers are the Group of Five football programs from the AAC, CUSA, MAC, MWC, and Sun Belt. Sharing 20.5 million dollars with student-athletes from revenue isn't likely for many of these schools, who will be more challenged than ever to compete at the highest level with the Goliaths. One wonders if the Group of Five eventually forms their own football league, if they can collectively secure a lucrative media deal.

For Rutgers, at the end of the day, football head coach Greg Schiano and basketball head coach Steve Pikiell have a bigger pot of money to pull from in the neverending chase to keep pace with the giants in the modern college football landscape. That's a good thing.

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