The playing field when it comes to earning NIL dollars might be swaying in favor of the Illinois football program.

In the current iteration of Name, Image, and Likeness, it is essentially that whoever has a rich donor base can bring in the most NIL dollars. With the second installment of the college football game, College Football 26, teams like the Illini have a chance to chip away at trying to equal the playing field.

In an article by Matt Liberman of Cllct, he published the payout tiers for the College Football 25 game that came out last season. Those tiers are now gone. That was just the plan on how to pay the programs in the first season of the game.

College Football 26 is going by a play-and-pay setup. According to the article, all programs in the FBS have opted in, and each team will receive NIL money based on the number of times that team is played in the game.

The article lays out in more detail a scenario that could play out. In Layman’s terms, the more people play with a team, the more money that team receives. This means that Illinois football fans literally have potential NIL dollars in the palm of their hands.

Liberman also mentions in the article that the game’s creators haven’t explained how they are tracking the number of times a team is used, but that they do have the ability to track that now.

Friday’s approval of the House settlement is expected to usher in an imminent overhaul to how college sports work.

One of the most prominent changes came together quickly, as Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley was named CEO of the new College Sports Commission on Friday night. Sources told ESPN that Seeley has been the target for the role for weeks, and the long-awaited formalization of the House settlement triggered his hire.

Sources told ESPN that Seeley is expected to make seven figures in the new role, as he’ll quickly become one of the most prominent figures in college sports.

Seeley is MLB’s executive vice president, legal & operations, and he brings investigative experience, which will be key in this role. In the post-settlement era, the NCAA will no longer be in charge of the enforcement of most rules. (It will still maintain purview over things like academics, but it will not patrol benefits.)

The CSC is the new era’s enforcement arm that will have final say in doling out punishments and deciding when rules have been broken. It’s one of the most important roles in this new era, as the industry has been craving some type of guidance since the advent of name, imagine and likeness has made the descriptor “wild, wild west” a common one in regard to the generally unregulated college sports industry.

In a formal announcement, Seeley’s job is described as having to “build out the organization’s investigative and enforcement teams and oversee all of its ongoing operations and stakeholder relationships.” Per the release: “Seeley and his team will also be responsible for enforcement of the new rules around revenue sharing, student-athlete third-party name image and likeness (NIL) deals, and roster limits.”

Seeley was hired by the four power conference commissioners — the ACC’s Jim Phillips, Big Ten’s Tony Petitti, Big 12’s Brett Yormark and SEC’s Greg Sankey. They released a joint statement on his hire: “Bryan brings unwavering integrity and a wealth of relevant experience to his new role leading the College Sports Commission and working to ensure a smooth implementation of this new system. We’re grateful to have an individual with his credentials and expertise at the helm, and we look forward to his leadership as we transition into this new era of college sports.”

In Seeley, college sports will be getting a seasoned investigator with experience in both the private sector and professional sports. It’s the type of background the commissioners sought in their search for the role.

Following Seeley’s graduation from Harvard Law School, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., prosecuting federal white-collar fraud and public corruption cases as well as local violent crime.

MLB hired Seeley to take over its Department of Investigations in 2014. The department has a wide swath of responsibilities, including cases pertaining to domestic violence, performance-enhancing drugs and age fraud. Seven years ago, Seeley added compliance and security to his management portfolio, and he ascended to executive vice president in 2022. Over his decade-plus at MLB, Seeley earned a reputation as a strong and competent manager whose department, which had let go of three employees following allegations of unethical behavior, consistently delivered solid work.

“Bryan is an exceptional choice to lead the College Sports Commission,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “During his time at MLB, Bryan demonstrated unparalleled integrity, a commitment to fairness, and the ability to navigate complex challenges with precision and care. I have no doubt he will bring the same level of excellence to the College Sports Commission. College sports will greatly benefit from Bryan’s expertise and vision.”

In March, Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski summed up the role of enforcement in the new era as having to be more efficient and punitive than when the NCAA was in charge of enforcement.

“We’ve screwed this thing up now to the point where we have to be willing to draw a line in the sand, and that will create some pain,” Bobinski told ESPN then. “There’s no two ways about it, and we’ll find out who’s just going to insist on stepping over the line. But if they do, you got to deal with it forcefully and quickly.”

The new era will not be without its complications. The CEO is in charge of running the systems that have been put into place by the commissioners — LBi Software and accounting firm Deloitte have been lined up to handle salary cap management and to manage the clearinghouse for NIL. Those NIL deals will be outside of the revenue share directly from schools, and how they are approved has been the focus of much conversation around college sports.

The clearinghouse that Deloitte has established will be known as NIL Go, which will be used to verify whether deals between athletes and boosters or associated entities are for a valid business purpose rather than a recruiting incentive. It’s described as a new technology platform that will be in place to assure that athletes’ NIL deals are in compliance with the rules.

According to information distributed at recent spring meetings, for example, investigations into athlete deals under the CSC are recommended to be resolved in 45 days. That’s a distinct shift from the ponderous NCAA process.

According to sources, the association documents being circulated for schools to sign to enter the new era detail the CEO’s role as making “final factual findings and determinations” on violations of rules. The CEO also will “impose such fines, penalties or other sanctions as appropriate” in accordance with the rules.

Once the House v. NCAA settlement received final approval, the expectation was the newly formed College Sports Commission would act quickly to name a CEO. Major League Baseball executive Bryan Seeley will serve in the role, the commission announced late Friday.

Seeley is currently MLB’s senior executive vice president of investigations, serving in the role since 2014, and a former U.S. attorney. In his role, he oversaw investigations into issues such as international compensation caps while also taking on a key role in policy areas such as legalized sports betting.

Judge approves landmark House v. NCAA settlement

Seeley previously spent eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. He’ll now oversee the College Sports Commission, which take on a prominent role in enforcement after Judge Claudia Wilken granted final approval of the House settlement.

“I am honored to serve as the first CEO of the College Sports Commission at this pivotal moment in the history of collegiate athletics,” Seeley said in a statement. “I look forward to implementing a system that prioritizes fairness, integrity, and opportunity, while preserving the values that make college sports unique. I am energized by the work ahead and excited to begin building out our team.”

According to the announcement, Bryan Seeley will help build out the College Sports Commission’s investigative and enforcement teams. The commission will take on a central role in enforcing the House v. NCAA settlement terms, working particularly close with the “NIL Go” clearinghouse that will be in place while also helping enforce rules around revenue-sharing and roster limits.

Documents showed the NCAA was preparing to cede enforcement to the College Sports Commission once the settlement got final approval. That came late Friday as Wilken issued a 76-page opinion, ushering in the revenue-sharing era and bring roster limits to college athletics.

“Bryan brings unwavering integrity and a wealth of relevant experience to his new role leading the College Sports Commission and working to ensure a smooth implementation of this new system,” the power conference commissioners said in a joint statement. “We’re grateful to have an individual with his credentials and expertise at the helm, and we look forward to his leadership as we transition into this new era of college sports.”

After a few years of battling behind the scenes to come up with a solution that would settle a lawsuit that would change the face of college athletics, the House settlement has finally been approved. Now we are headed into uncharted territory, with plenty of questions still to be answered. 

It might have taken over two weeks for Judge Claudia Wilken to issue her approval, but at 9:15 p.m. ET on Friday night, the collegiate sports we once knew is now gone. 

As you’ve watched this play out over the last number of years, with plenty of setbacks along the way, former collegiate athletes were looking to get a cut of the pie that they missed out on due to NIL not being around during their playing days. 

According to the order filed, schools will have roughly $20.5 million to share with their athletes. This will be broken up into different sports, which is at the discretion of each school participating in the revenue-sharing. 

Now, we are living in the era where players who are looking to cash-in on their NIL, will be dealing directly with the school itself, while third-party collectives will still be around at most schools.  It started with the Ed O’Bannon case, which was a fight over whether former and current athletes should be paid for their likeness being used in video games. This led to the dam opening, and more players taking the NCAA to court over their current NIL rights. 

TO READ THE FULL APPROVAL ORDER, CLICK HERE

What we got in return was a settlement that would see college athletes being paid by the schools themselves, which was illegal up until this point. Clearly, all hell has broken loose in the NIL circles, as what you are seeing today has nothing to do with actual name, image and likeness, but more so, players getting paid to play at a particular school. 

By the way, there is nothing wrong with these athletes getting paid to play sports. But let’s not act as if this is anything other than that. 

According to multiple sources, MLB executive Bryan Seeley is set to be named CEO of the newly formed ‘College Sports Commission’  that will be the enforcement arm of the House settlement, along with providing guidance on traversing this going forward

There will be an initial salary cap that each school must abide by, which should hover around the $20.5 million range for the first year, before it increases on a yearly basis. 

In her order, Judge Wilken also said she is unclear whether the upcoming revenue-sharing cap is a violation of antitrust law. This will certainly lead to lawsuits being filed that are connected to the cap placed on NIL payments from the schools themselves. 

There Will Be Further Lawsuits Regarding NIL, Along With Third Party Deals

One of the more interesting arguments made in her order had to do with payments made by collectives, or through deals that schools present to athletes. 

“The NCAA shall not have any Division I rules prohibiting student-athletes from receiving payments from third parties for NIL, other than as set forth in this Injunctive Relief Settlement. For the avoidance of doubt, entities or organizations that are owned, controlled, or operated by Member Institutions and/or conferences are not third parties. 

“Subcontractors of a Member Institution will not be considered third parties in instances and to the extent they are acting as an agent, facilitator, and/or administrator for a Member Institution whereby they are making payments to student-athletes that originate from/are paid by a Member Institution.”

How NIL Deals Will Be Determined If Fair From 

There will be three evaluation determining factors for NIL deals with the clearinghouse that will either approve or deny a deal that is submitted through the ‘NIL-Go’ software program. 

–Payor association: “The relationship between the payor and the student-athlete’s school”

–Valid Business Purpose: “Whether the payor is seeking the use of the student-athlete’s NIL for a valid business purpose, meaning to sell a good or service to the public for profit”

–Range of Compensation: “Whether the compensation paid to the student-athlete is commensurate with compensation paid to similarly situated individuals”

On Friday night, Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey took to social media to make a point about the need for collective bargaining with athletes in college sports. 

“Collective bargaining discussions need to happen…let’s curiously question bc what we’re currently doing continues insanity. We have a responsibility to find solutions…Agent regulations…low hanging fruit”

$2.8 Billion In Back Damages Have To Be Paid Out

Athletes who could not earn money by using their own NIL before its inception in 2021 would be owed a payout from the settlement. This monetary figure was a negotiated settlement that would cost the NCAA and its power conferences significantly less than what they would’ve had to pay if this case ended up going to trial. 

• There will be upwards of $20 billion in revenue-sharing that will go towards athletes in the future.

In her ruling, Judge Claudia Wilken had this to say about the revenue-sharing cap. 

“The pool spending cap will permit schools that choose to opt-in to the IRS to provide benefits and compensation to Division ! student-athletes of approximately $20 million per year per school. This is a dramatic increase from the $5,980 per student athlete per year that was permitted in Alston, and from the $5,000 per student-athlete per year that the Ninth Circuit reversed in O’Bannon.”

The athletes who are going to be paid had to sign up for this through the settlement terms, and will receive a check. Right now, these athletes can see their payout through an online portal that’s currently available. Some of these payouts will obviously be higher than others, so it will be interesting to see how much some athletes make when this is finalized. 

Judge Claudia Wilken holds all the power with the House settlement 

NIL Deals With Third Parties Allowed, But Have To Be Cleared

One of the biggest aspects of this new settlement will be how athletes can make money from third-party deals. According to the settlement, players who are presented NIL deals that are more than $600 will have to submit them to a clearinghouse, which is actually being run through a company called ‘Deloitte,’ which is calculated by computer software. 

This will be an independent group that makes up the clearinghouse committee, which will take a look at deals that they feel might violate the rules put into place. If a deal is not deemed worthy, which means it’s not legal under the new rules, it will be denied. This could also lead to schools potentially getting into trouble, though the NCAA is struggling with its power right now. 

Simply put, if your school is putting together an NIL deal, whether that’s from the athletic department itself or the collective, it has to be approved if it’s over $600. And by the way, there won’t be many, if any, deals that are under that amount. So, schools are preparing for a number of different situations with the enforcement arm of this settlement. 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as a number of states have passed laws that would exclude state universities from following rules that are put into place by the settlement. Also, some states have passed laws where revenue made from NIL would not be subject to state income taxes, which has caused quite a stir around the country. 

Schools Will Now Pay Players Directly. There Will Be A Cap On Annual Revenue

The biggest component of this entire settlement is the new rules that allow schools to pay their athletes directly. Think about that one for a minute. Just five years ago, universities would face the harshest of punishment from the NCAA if they were caught paying players. 

But now, there will be checks sent out, or weekly wire transfers, sent to the athletes from the schools. Every month, a player will receive a payment from the athletic departments of participating institutions, which is fascinating. 

According to multiple sources, there is a fear that schools are going to have a hard time putting a limit on how much boosters are going to spend. 

The revenue cap is scheduled to be around $20.5 million per year, which every school will disperse in different ways. A majority of big-time schools will spend their money on football rosters, while the remaining amount will go to other sports. This means that the football program could spend upwards of $16 to $17 million on football alone. 

The other interesting part is that there are plenty of schools that do not have a powerful football program, or even a football team at all, so they can spend a majority of that money on basketball. This will see some schools have a leg up on others in different sports, which should translate into a Big East school like Villanova spending $15-$16 million on the basketball team, while schools from the SEC or Big Ten are spending upwards of $3 to $4 million on the revenue-sharing agreement. 

Will other schools decide to spend more money on basketball and baseball compared to others? This could lead to programs having to shut down athletic programs, based off the amount of money being made, along with the allotted sums. 

Players have already started signing contracts with schools under the presumption that the settlement would be approved, which is another reason why you have seen a plethora of athletes have their new deals ‘front-loaded.’ All this did was get a majority of their contract off the books, so that it would not count toward the revenue-share cap that was agreed to. 

This is obviously a landmark moment for college athletics, just as the inception of NIL was in 2021. But with this settlement, everything you once knew about sports at the collegiate level has now changed. What was once taboo, is now legal. 

Schools will start cutting checks to athletes, and what we once characterized as ‘amateur sports’ has shifted to a more professional model. The only thing missing is the athletes being able to collectively bargain, which I would imagine is the next step on the crazy rollercoaster that has changed college athletics forever. 

Welcome to the ‘Semi-Pro’ era. 

College athletics is officially entering a new world.

A California judge on Friday night a little bit past 9 p.m. ET granted approval to the NCAA’s landmark settlement of three antitrust cases, often referred to as the “House settlement,” ushering in an era where schools are permitted to share revenue with athletes within a new enforcement structure led by the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.

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Claudia Wilken, the 75-year-old presiding judge in California’s Northern District, granted approval of an agreement between the named defendants (the NCAA and power conferences) and the plaintiffs (dozens of suing athletes) to settle three consolidated cases, all of them seeking more compensation for athletes.

“Despite some compromises, the settlement agreement nevertheless will result in extraordinary relief for members of the settlement classes. If approved, it would permit levels and types of student-athlete compensation that have never been permitted in the history of college sports, while also very generously compensating Division I student-athletes who suffered past harms,” Wilken said as part of the 76-page opinion.

Unsuccessful in so many legal battles recently — most notably a 9-0 loss in a 2021 Supreme Court decision — the NCAA and its richest, most influential conferences decided last spring to strike a revolutionary agreement by settling these cases instead of risking a court defeat that might cost them as much as $10 billion.

The House settlement will pay thousands of former athletes — playing from 2016-2024 — a whopping $2.8 billion in backpay from lost name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation. Even more groundbreaking, the settlement paves the way for schools, for the first time ever, to directly compensate athletes in a system that features an annual cap and a new enforcement entity that is expected to more heavily scrutinize booster-backed payments.

While paychecks can begin to be distributed from schools to athletes on July 1 — the official start date of settlement implementation — the new enforcement entity, the College Sports Commission, an LLC operated mostly by the power leagues, immediately takes effect with Wilken’s approval of the agreement.

“This is new terrain for everyone. … Opportunities to drive transformative change don’t come often to organizations like ours. It’s important we make the most of this one,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement released Friday night. “We have accomplished a lot over the last several months, from new health and wellness and academic requirements to a stronger financial footing. Together, we can use this new beginning to launch college sports into the future, too.”

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It means that any new contract struck between an athlete and a third-party entity, such a business, brand, booster or collective, is now subject to the new Deloitte-run NIL clearinghouse. The clearinghouse, dubbed “NIL Go,” is charged with evaluating NIL deals between athletes and third parties to determine their legitimacy.

It puts an end, perhaps, to schools hurriedly signing current players and transfers to new contracts before the approval of the settlement in deals that frontload a majority of the compensation. Contracts signed before the settlement approval and paid out before July 1 were not subject to the clearinghouse or cap, leading to a “mad dash” in the basketball and football portal.

Power conference leaders are targeting a Major League Baseball executive to manage the College Sports Commission as CEO, multiple sources tell Yahoo Sports. Bryan Seeley, a former assistant U.S. attorney who has served for more than a decade as MLB’s vice president of investigations and deputy general counsel, is believed to be the preferred candidate for the CEO role of college sports’ new enforcement entity.

Despite plenty of hurdles in the settlement’s years-long approval process, those who negotiated the deal have long expected it to be approved because of the sheer numbers involved. More than 85,000 athletes have filed claims for the backpay and just 600 have opted out or objected to the agreement — a paltry number that did not faze the judge.

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Wiken’s decision, coming two months after the final hearing in Oakland, California, puts an end to what was thought to be one of the last looming hurdles of a deal: roster limits. In a concept authored by the power conferences, the settlement imposes new limits on sports rosters, many of which had not previously existed.

In a recent filing, the NCAA and power leagues agreed to revise settlement language to permit schools to grandfather-in athletes on existing teams or those who have been cut this year, as well as recruits who enrolled on the promise of a roster spot.

With its approval, the settlement ushers into college sports a more professionalized framework but one, many believe, that is ripe for more legal scrutiny. Already, attorneys are gearing up for future legal challenges over, at the very least, the new NIL clearinghouse, Title IX and the capped compensation system — much of which can be resolved, legal experts contend, with a collective bargaining and/or employment model that college executives have so far avoided.

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The settlement’s approval is only the first in what many college leaders describe as a two-step process to usher in stability in the college sports landscape.

Step 2 may be even more difficult: lawmakers producing a congressional bill to codify the settlement terms and protect the NCAA and power conferences from legal challenges over enforcement of their rules. Five U.S. senators have been meeting regularly in serious negotiations over legislation, but no agreement has been reached.

Here’s an explainer of college sports’ new world delivered by the settlement’s approval:

Revenue-share pool

Each school is permitted — not required — to share up to a certain amount of revenue annually with their athletes (the cap). Per the settlement agreement, the cap is calculated by taking 22% of the average of certain power school revenues, most notably ticket sales, television dollars and sponsorships.

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In Year 1 — July 2025 through June 2026 — the cap amount is projected to be $20.5 million.

While each school is charged with determining how to distribute those funds, most power conference programs are planning to distribute 90% to football and men’s basketball, as those are, for the most part, the only revenue-generating sports for an athletic department.

In Year 1, that’s about $13-16 million for a football roster and $2-4 million for men’s basketball, with the remaining amount shared with women’s basketball, baseball, volleyball and other Olympic sports.

While the 22% cap will remain the same through the 10-year settlement agreement, the cap money figure will rise based on built-in escalators (4% increase in Year 2 and Year 3), scheduled recalculations (after each third year) and additional cash flows into athletic departments, such as when conferences enter into new, more lucrative television deals or/and begin receiving new College Football Playoff monies.

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Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork told Yahoo Sports this summer that he expects the cap to break $25 million by the time the Year 4 recalculation happens. There are exceptions, though, that can artificially lower the annual cap, most notably up to $2.5 million in additional scholarships that a school offers.

Enforcement entity

A new non-NCAA enforcement entity — an LLC predominantly managed by the power conferences — will oversee and enforce rules related to the revenue-share concept.

The company, College Sports Commission, is expected to be headed by a CEO as well as a head investigator for enforcement matters. The entity is charged with assuring that schools remain under the cap and that third-party NIL deals with athletes are not the phony booster-backed deals so prevalent over the last four years.

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An enforcement staff is expected to be hired to investigate and enforce rules related to cap circumvention, tampering, etc., and are charged with levying stiff penalties. Violators may be subject to multi-game coach suspensions, reductions in a school’s rev-share pool as well as reductions in allowed transfers, and significant schools fines.

However, the biggest looming uncertainty of the settlement agreement involves a Deloitte-run NIL clearinghouse that must approve all third-party NIL deals of at least $600 in value. The “NIL Go” clearinghouse is using a fair market value algorithm to create “compensation ranges” for third-party deals.

Deloitte is expected to approve or disapprove deals in as little as one day, and athletes can resubmit rejected deals at least once with alterations suggested by the clearinghouse. For example, Deloitte may deem a submitted $100,000 deal between an athlete and third party to actually be valued at $50,000. The player can alter the deal to align with the clearinghouse’s suggested figure or the school can cover the difference by accepting a reduction against their revenue-pool cap.

Deals rejected for a second time are referred to the CEO and enforcement staff and are then processed through an appeals system via court-overseen arbitration. Arbitration rulings are expected within 45 days, according to the settlement.

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Athletes who lose arbitration cases and still accept compensation in the rejected deal are deemed ineligible.

Rev-share contracts

Starting with the fall basketball and football signing periods, schools began readying for this new era.

Some even signed players to revenue-sharing agreements that begin to make payments on July 1 or later, contingent on the settlement’s approval. Other players signed contracts with school booster collectives that featured a clause assigning the contract to the school on July 1.

For the most part, the contracts grant schools permission to use a player’s NIL rights — a reason for the compensation — but these agreements feature language often found in employment contracts, including buyouts, athlete requirements and prohibitions as well as the freedom for schools to reduce the players’ compensation based on their academic standing and performance.

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Already, the agreements are a subject of legal scrutiny.

In January, Wisconsin defensive back Xavier Lucas left the university to enroll at Miami despite signing a revenue-share contract with UW. In public statements, Wisconsin has suggested it will pursue legal action against Lucas and/or Miami, which, it suggested, tampered with an athlete under contract. Lucas’ representatives believe the contract is not enforceable as it was contingent on settlement approval when signed.

The situation is a potential landmark case on settlement-contingent revenue-sharing agreements.