College athletics have entered uncharted territory, and the Buffs are ready.
College athletics have officially entered uncharted territory.
After the landmark decision by Judge Claudia Wilken in the House vs. NCAA Settlement case, colleges will be able to share up to $20.5 million of earned revenue with their student-athletes per year.
The settlement marks the first time in NCAA history that schools will legally be able to directly compensate student-athletes for their on-field performance. Despite the new ruling, student-athletes will still be able to receive compensation from their name, image and likeness (NIL), but schools no longer have to use an NIL collective to pay their players.
Although all the legal jargon can be hard to decipher and understand, what this means is that schools can finally play their athletes legally without having to jump through any loopholes or break any rules.
Colorado athletics director Rick George knows these changes can be hard to follow, but reassured Buffs Nation that CU has positioned itself to thrive in this new era of college sports.
“While the changes may seem drastic and sudden to those just learning about the settlement, we’ve been preparing for this eventuality for nearly a year,” said George in a press release after the ruling. “And I believe we’ve positioned CU Athletics to be successful in this new era of college athletics.”
George says the ruling mainly affects CU in three major ways: revenue sharing, third-party NIL and roster limits.
The revenue sharing aspect of CU’s plans post-ruling is self-explanatory: Colorado will pay its players. The question is just how much.
The $20.5 million allotment acts like a salary cap. Schools must split that sum of money among all sanctioned sports teams, although they are free to allocate that budget how they see fit.
For CU, that means giving most of the money to the sports that earn the most revenue.
“Each CU sport program will have a revenue-share budget that is proportional to the revenue that sport generates, but all of our student-athletes will be able to participate in revenue-sharing to some degree if they choose,” wrote George in a press release. “Each student-athlete will be given the opportunity to enter into a licensing agreement with CU Athletics.”
While the ruling states that schools aren’t required to share the full $20.5 allotment with their student-athletes, George says that CU intends to take full advantage of revenue share by using the full amount.
“While athletic departments are not required to compensate student-athletes up to the cap, in order to remain competitive, it is our intention to fully meet the $20.5 million responsibility,” wrote George in his press release.
Outside of the $20.5 million that will be paid directly to players from CU, athletes can still take advantage of third-party NIL deals.
“In addition to compensation provided directly by athletic departments, the Settlement allows student-athletes to continue to enter into third-party NIL agreements with businesses, who can use student-athletes to enhance their brands,” wrote George.
With the sweeping changes in the college athletics landscape, Colorado will no longer need its NIL collective. George and the school made the move to ditch CU’s “5430 Alliance” collective in January 2025 in preparation for this moment, and that decision has finally paid off.
This means that student-athletes can no longer rely on the 5430 Alliance to net them NIL deals. Instead, they’ll have to fish for those deals themselves.
George says that the school is looking into ways to streamline finding third-party NIL deals for CU student-athletes, but for now, the businesses and athletes will have to figure it out for themselves.
“I look forward to sharing more about the innovative initiatives we’re working on, but in the meantime, businesses can still directly support our student-athletes and that is crucial for the long-term success of our programs,” wrote George. “If you own a business or are a decision maker in your company, we need your support in engaging in third-party NIL agreements with our student-athletes.”
It’s unfortunately not all sunshine and roses for CU. As a replacement for scholarship limits, the settlement ruling will now implement strict roster limits for each sport. Football’s roster limit will be capped at 105 players, while basketball will be set at 15.
This won’t make too much of an impact on Colorado, as both the football and basketball programs have been known to keep smaller rosters, but it will likely result in some football players being dismissed from the program. It will also make it significantly harder for walk-ons to make the squad.
“The settlement has also replaced scholarship limits with roster limits, which has guided us in updating roster sizes for all of our sports,” wrote George. “Our approach is to be open-minded while fulfilling our responsibilities as outlined by the settlement and mandated by Title IX. The NCAA is permitting departments to potentially grandfather roster spots that had been removed, something CU will explore on a case-by-case basis.”
The house settlement ruling is no doubt exciting for college athletics, but it also will come with a fair share of hiccups and speed bumps. George has assured Colorado fans that their athletics department knows that challenges may lie ahead, but is prepared and willing to tackle them.
“There is no doubt this settlement will create challenges for our department and our student-athletes, but I know we’re prepared to meet these challenges head-on and to continue to provide a world-class experience for every Buff,” wrote George.
For more updates on Colorado athletics and the house settlement, make sure you’re staying up to date with us here at Ralphie Report.