Thursday had the potential to be a landmark day in college sports. As we write this, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken was preparing to gather information and hear from attorneys for the NCAA, power conferences and plaintiffs in the three antitrust cases that might soon reshape college athletics into a model resembling pro sports.
College sports administrators all over America, Texas Tech athletics director Kirby Hocutt among them, are paying close attention to what all unfolds. If Wilken gives preliminary approval to the proposed settlement in House v. NCAA filed in late July, two of the key outcomes could involve former athletes sharing in a pool of $2.78 billion in back damages — earnings opportunities they were denied by NCAA amateurism rules — and current and future athletes beginning to be paid directly by their athletics departments.
Texas Tech and the other power-conference schools would begin revenue sharing as soon as the 2025-26 school year. Projections have the schools paying the athletes a little more than $20 million per school annually, with escalators, over a 10-year period.