A New Era Comes to College Athletics; How It Affects the Gamecocks

A monumental ruling came down on Friday that will allow schools to pay their players directly. How will this affect the South Carolina Gamecocks?

The NCAA flag flies over the stadium as the Oregon Ducks host the Liberty Flames in game two of an NCAA Super Regional at Jane Sanders Stadium in Eugene on May 24, 2025. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A multi-billion dollar legal settlement was approved on Friday which allows for schools to pay players directly, a huge decision in college sports. How will this directly affect the South Carolina Gamecocks? Let's take a look.

The House v NCAA settlement was months in the making with all signs pointing towards this outcome, just a matter of when and not if. The settlement officially ends three separate federal antitrust lawsuits, all of which claimed the NCAA was illegally limiting the earning power of college athletes.

The annual cap is expected to start at roughly $20.5 million per school in 2025-26 and increase every year during the decade-long deal. Beginning July 1, schools will be able to hand out this money to their athletes with each sport getting a piece of the pie, with football expected to receive 75%, followed by men’s basketball (15%), women’s basketball (5%) and the remainder of sports (5%).

South Carolina, like other schools around the country, will soon be able to pay their players directly. The football program will have roughly $13-$16 million to spend on its roster with the remaining funds spread across the other sports.

While Name-Image-and Likeness will still be around, the hope is this proposed "salary cap" will put teams on a level playing field. With NIL, that will remain to be seen. This is just the first step in an evolving process.

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