photo by: AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File

FILE – The NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis is seen on March 12, 2020.

A federal judge has approved terms of a sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that will upend the way college sports have been run for more than a century. In short, schools can now directly pay players through licensing deals — a concept that goes against the foundation of amateurism that college sports was built upon.

Some questions and answers about this monumental change for college athletics:

Q: What is the House settlement and why does it matter?

A: Grant House is a former Arizona State swimmer who sued the defendants (the NCAA and the five biggest athletic conferences in the nation). His lawsuit and two others were combined and over several years the dispute wound up with the settlement that ends a decades-old prohibition on schools cutting checks directly to athletes. Now, each school will be able to make payments to athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). For reference, there are nearly 200,000 athletes and 350 schools in Division I alone and 500,000 and 1,100 schools across the entire NCAA.

Q: How much will the schools pay the athletes and where will the money come from?

A: In Year 1, each school can share up to about $20.5 million with their athletes, a number that represents 22% of their revenue from things like media rights, ticket sales and sponsorships. Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne famously told Congress “those are resources and revenues that don’t exist.” Some of the money will come via ever-growing TV rights packages, especially for the College Football Playoff. But some schools are increasing costs to fans through “talent fees,” concession price hikes and “athletic fees” added to tuition costs.

Q: What about scholarships? Wasn’t that like paying the athletes?

A: Scholarships and “cost of attendance” have always been part of the deal for many Division I athletes and there is certainly value to that, especially if athletes get their degree. The NCAA says its member schools hand out nearly $4 billion in athletic scholarships every year. But athletes have long argued that it was hardly enough to compensate them for the millions in revenue they helped produce for the schools, which went to a lot of places, including multimillion-dollar coaches’ salaries. They took those arguments to court and won.

Q: Haven’t players been getting paid for a while now?

A: Yes, since 2021. Facing losses in court and a growing number of state laws targeting its amateurism policies, the NCAA cleared the way for athletes to receive NIL money from third parties, including so-called donor-backed collectives that support various schools. Under House, the school can pay that money directly to athletes and the collectives are still in the game.

Q: But will $20.5 million cover all the costs for the athletes?

A: Probably not. But under terms of the settlement, third parties are still allowed to cut deals with the players. Some call it a workaround, but most simply view this as the new reality in college sports as schools battle to land top talent and then keep them on campus. Top quarterbacks are reportedly getting paid around $2 million a year, which would eat up about 10% of a typical school’s NIL budget for all its athletes.

Q: Are there any rules or is it a free-for-all?

A: The defendant conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12) are creating an enforcement arm that is essentially taking over for the NCAA, which used to police recruiting violations and the like. Among this new entity’s biggest functions is to analyze third-party deals worth $600 or more to make sure they are paying players an appropriate “market value” for the services being provided. The so-called College Sports Commission promises to be quicker and more efficient than the NCAA. Schools are being asked to sign a contract saying they will abide by the rules of this new structure, even if it means going against laws passed in their individual states.

Q: What about players who played before NIL was allowed?

A: A key component of the settlement is the $2.7 billion in back pay going to athletes who competed between 2016-24 and were either fully or partially shut out from those payments under previous NCAA rules. That money will come from the NCAA and its conferences (but really from the schools, who will receive lower-than-normal payouts from things like March Madness).

Q: Who will get most of the money?

A: Since football and men’s basketball are the primary revenue drivers at most schools, and that money helps fund all the other sports, it stands to reason that the football and basketball players will get most of the money. But that is one of the most difficult calculations for the schools to make. There could be Title IX equity concerns as well.

Q: What about all the swimmers, gymnasts and other Olympic sports athletes?

A: The settlement calls for roster limits that will reduce the number of players on all teams while making all of those players – not just a portion – eligible for full scholarships. This figures to have an outsize impact on Olympic-sport athletes, whose scholarships cost as much as that of a football player but whose sports don’t produce revenue. There are concerns that the pipeline of college talent for Team USA will take a hit.

Q: So, once this is finished, all of college sports’ problems are solved, right?

A: The new enforcement arm seems ripe for litigation. There are also the issues of collective bargaining and whether athletes should flat-out be considered employees, a notion the NCAA and schools are generally not interested in, despite Tennessee athletic director Danny White’s suggestion that collective bargaining is a potential solution to a lot of headaches. NCAA President Charlie Baker has been pushing Congress for a limited antitrust exemption that would protect college sports from another series of lawsuits but so far nothing has emerged from Capitol Hill.

Day 2 of the WIAA State Track and Field Championships was one that many area athletes won’t forget about anytime soon. 

The Cochrane-Fountain City girls are your Division 3 champions in the team standings after squeaking out a one point win over Lourdes Academy. 

On Saturday the Pirates got a second place finish from Addy Duellman in the one mile with a time of 4:55.19 while her sister Paxtyn took eighth with a time of 5:07.05, a second place finish from Paxtyn in the 800m with a time of 2:11.57, a fourth place finish by Cecelia Dittrich in the long jump with a leap of 17-8.75. They won the Division 3 title by one point. 

It was a special day for Prairie du Chien’s Blake Thiry as he was crowned champion in the 100m hurdles as well as the triple jump. He took second place in the 300m hurdles to prevent him from four golds in the weekend but he still set a new school record with a mark of 38.00. 

Manny Putz’s illustrious high school running career has come to a close as he was edged out by Grady Lenn of De Pere in the two mile, similar to yesterday when the De Pere runner defeated Putz in the mile. The Hilltopper ran a mark of 8:53.79 which is a new state record, but Lenn finished one second faster. 

In the Division 2 two mile race it was a comeback for the ages by Aquinas senior Declan Gregg after he found a new gear down the final stretch defeating Isaac Ewing of McFarland by .24 seconds. Gregg finished with a time of 9:09.25. 

The Kickapoo/La Farge sprinters had a massive day in relays winning the 4×200 race in 1:44.44 and the 4×100 in a time of 48.90. Those teams consisting of Katie Randow, Ayvah Young, Chloe Walter and Jewel Kleinsasser. 

Holmen speedster Lydia Lazarescu had a big day as well taking home silver in the 100m dash by 0.01 seconds with a time of 11.89. She finished second in the 200m with a time of 24.29 seconds. Her teammate Brenna Schmidt with a runner-up finish in the Division 1 shot put with a throw of 41-4.00. 

In the Division 3 100m hurdles Cashton’s Makayla Gooselaw took fifth with a time of 15.37 and De Soto’s Paisley Egge logged a mark of15.52.

In Division 1, Onalaska’s Ella Stevens finished fifth with a time of 15.12. 

In 110m hurdles Kaden Sullivan of Viroqua finished sixth with a time of 15.09. 

Holmen’s Jakai Ayed took home fifth place in the same event in Division 1 with a time of 14.62 and then also took fifth place in the 300m hurdles with a time of 39.67.

Abigail Lendosky of Viroqua had a busy weekend and her best finish was in the 100m wheelchair race where she took second with a time of 22.72. 

Westby’s Elizabeth Curtis found her way to the podium in the one mile with a run of 5:00.65.

Bangor girls consisting of Grace Wenthold, Marin Gasper, Aubrey Langrehr, Jaycee Michek in the 4×200 took home third place with a time of 1:45.31. 

Onalaska’s girls 4×200 relay team took home sixth place with a mark of 1:43.09. That team made up of Ella Stevens, Eliana Mascotti, Makena McGarry, Elin Gilles. 

In the boys event in Division 2 Aquinas took home fifth with a time of 1:29:58. 

In the D3 boys 400m dash Kickapoo/La Farge’s Aidric Egge made the podium with a mark of 49-58. 

In Division 2, Viroqua’s Isaac Pratt finished fourth with a time of 49.44 turned in. 

Katelyn Benish, Ali Fortun, Madelyn Vonfeldt, Erin Gluch turned in a time of 49.89 in the 4×100 good enough for third place. 

Holmen’s 4×100 team of also taking bronze thanks to a time of 48.21.

Aquinas’ 4×100 boys team found their way to the podium thanks to a fifth place finish and a time of 43.04. 

Bangor’s 4×400 team took fourth in the event with a time of 4:04.05. 

Kickapoo/La Farge’s team of Aidric Egge, Jeff Olsen, Theo Parr, Arlon Walter finished in third place with a time of 3:26.28. 

Gavin Tamling of North Crawford had the fourth-best throw in boys discus with a mark of 158-10 and Luther’s Jack Schmeling took sixth with a throw of 156-11.

In Division 2 Trey Lyga of Arcadia took home fourth with a throw of 171-2, while Jacob Hackbarth of Logan finished sixth with a throw of 164-10. 

Atlin Steinhoff of Tomah had a good showing in Division 1 with a hoist of 176-9. 

Luther’s Lauren Wickus had a fifth place finish thanks to her leap of 5-3 in the Division 3 high jump and she also made the podium on long jump taking sixth with a mark of 17-4.25. 

Holmen’s Alexa Szak and Onalaska’s Isabella Malacek tied for sixth in the D1 high jump with marks of 5-2. 

Onalaska’s Makena McGarry with a fantastic showing in Division 1 long jump with a mark of 18-11 on her fourth attempt which got her a runner-up finish. 

In Division 2 Logan’s Lillian Dettwiler with a nice performance as she jumped 17-8.50, good enough for fourth place. 

In boys pole vault G-E-T’s Sawyer Smock finished third with a mark of 14-0.

Onalaska’s Gabe Mauss finished off his solid weekend with a third place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 47-0.75

In addition to Thiry finishing first in Division 2, Tanner Winker of Mauston finished second, Luke Baginski of West Salem took third and David Onyeabor was fourth. 

For a full list of results from the two day event click here. 

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(WHSV) – A number of local athletes from WHSV’s viewing area were crowned state champions at the VHSL Track & Field State Championships Friday and Saturday.

Class 1 and 2 state meet was held at Sentara Park on the campus of James Madison University while Class 3′s state meet took place at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

For the entire list of individual results, click the links for the respective classification. Then look for the event.

• VHSL Class 1 and 2 Championships
• VHSL Class 3 Championships

VHSL Class 3

Boys

1. Fauquier
2. Western Albemarle
3. Broadway

Girls

1. Heritage
2. Abingdon
3. Western Albemarle

VHSL Class 2

Boys

1. Floyd County
2. Bruton
3. Radford

Girls

1. Clarke Co.
2. Lee
3. Ridgeview

Copyright 2025 WHSV. All rights reserved.

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• The Arrowhead Warhawks girls track and field team won their second consecutive Division 1 state title.
• Junior Avery Bott led the Warhawks with top-three finishes in the 100m, 200m, and 400m races.
• Elise Schroeder, the defending pole vault champion, won her second straight state title.

LA CROSSE — For Arrowhead girls track and field coach Bradley Clark, it’s simple.