College football is changing at a rapid pace. Whether this is because of conference realignment, new TV rights for College Football Playoff games, or rights for student athletes, it can be a lot to keep up with.
Now, there is arguably the most significant update yet. However, this is bigger than college football. It can impact the entire landscape of college athletics. Read below to find out how.
Power Conference Schools Will Pay College Athletes Directly
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A bombshell report written by Dan Murphy and Pete Thamel of ESPN revealed that power conference schools and the NCAA have agreed to pay their student athletes directly. These include schools that are currently in the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Pac-12 respectively. At the time of writing, this equates to 68 schools currently in these conferences.
Each school will be allowed to share up to $20 million of revenue per year with its athletes. This is expected to begin as early as the 2025-26 school year.
Paying Former College Athletes
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Future college athletes are not the only ones that will benefit from this pending agreement. The NCAA and these power conferences plan to make right by former college athletes. Any Division I college athlete dating back to as far as 2016 will be eligible to receive compensation due to a settlement that is coming out of this agreement.
So, what does this settlement entail? The NCAA and these power conferences will pay about $2.7 billion in damages to these former college athletes over the next 10 years. A payment plan is expected to be made where these athletes will receive 10% of the money they are owed annually.
Long Battle Ahead?
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This is a huge victory for college athletes in the past, present, and future. The numbers above will allow these athletes to receive compensation and a percentage of the revenue that was just not possible in years past. However, the battle is not over for advocates fighting for the rights of college athletes.
There are two notable things these advocates want for college athletes moving forward. The first thing these advocates want is for college athletes to be recognized as employees. If this were to happen, things such as health insurance, paid vacation, and 401K plan contributions could become available to these college athletes.
Second, these advocates want to develop a collective bargaining agreement between these schools and college athletes. If that happens, it can offer more guarantees and better protection for college athletes to receive everything mentioned above.
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