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A new royalties structure for EA Sports’ College Football 26 apparently has the fans in charge of what athletic programs will bring in from the lucrative game.

OWEGO, NY (WBNG) — A staggering 20 student-athletes signed their National Letter of Intent at Owego Free Academy on Thursday.

Isabella Silvestri will be playing Flag Football at Marymount University and shares her feelings about playing at the next level.

“I’m so excited,” said Silvestri. “And I just feel so lucky and grateful to have the opportunity to do this. I feel like I’m able to help pave the way for other female athletes that might want to have a career in flag football in their future, and I’m very grateful for that opportunity.”

Ashleigh Steele will continue her field hockey career at Misicordia University and shares what made her decide to play for the Cougars.

“It was a great campus,” said Steele. “The coach showed me around and she was very sweet, all of them were. And I just really love the campus and I’m very excited to be going there in the fall.”

Owego River Hawks Senior Signings:

Elijah Lewis – Herkimer College – Baseball

Conlan Taylor – Binghamton University – Baseball

Jack Buchsbaum – Alfred University – Football

Adam Arbal – Alfred University – Football

Evan English – SUNY Cortland – Football

Madison McEvoy – SUNY Oswego – Basketball

Collin Monell – SUNY Oswego – Wrestling

Kaelyn Katchuk – Boston University – Diving

Zyir VanScoy – Nazareth College – Soccer

Alexis Cheeseman – Hartwick College – Field Hockey/Flag Football

Ashleigh Steele – Misericordia University – Field Hockey

Logan Georgia – SUNY Potsdam – Volleyball

Ava Leonard – SUNY Delhi – Softball

Isabella Silvestri – Marymount University – Flag Football

Antoni Talarico – Tompkins Cortland Community College – Lacrosse

Aaron Brainard – Tompkins Cortland Community College – Lacrosse

Vasil Brich – Herkimer College – Soccer

Jaxson Belokur – Elmira College – Soccer

Billy Huddleston – Mansfield University – Football

Carson Morris – SUNY Morrisville – Football

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Soccer was what kick-started Julieta Peralta Acosta’s academic life at Seattle University.

Originally from Mexico, Peralta Acosta—who has been playing soccer since she was 10 years old—got recruited to play for the Redhawks.

“This has been one of the best soccer teams I’ve been on with the most chemistry,” she says. “Being here allowed me to find my love of soccer again. We all care for one another and are committed to the same goal.”

While her love of soccer proved pivotal in attending a college in the states, she was equally lured by the opportunities she saw at Seattle University to getting a top-notch education in her chosen field of study: Cell and Molecular Biology. She also found a real sense of inclusiveness and belonging, something that was evident upon meeting the soccer coaches and her teammates upon arrival.

“I was worried about what people would think of me but all of those worries went away after I met with my team,” she says. “It was made very clear that before being a student or an athlete, you are seen as a person.”

This fall Peralta Acosta is headed to the University of Toronto to start graduate school, looking to earn her PhD in Molecular Genetics. Her interest in an undergraduate degree in biology was lit when she took her first introduction to the major in her first quarter at SU.

The self-professed “big bio nerd” credits faculty like Professor Brett Kaiser, PhD, for making the discipline interesting and showing the breadth of possibilities that the field affords.

“The professors are so human and amazing and easy to talk to,” says Peralta Acosta, who is the 2025 recipient of the John Ju Excellence in Science Award. “My favorite professor is Dr. Brett Kaiser, who was my first biology professor. He made me realize how much my passion is for molecular biology.”

Important to immersing herself in the College of Science and Engineering was research, something she participated in during her first year with the support of Dr. Kaiser. And it has continued over the past three years with the focus of the research on BREX, a bacterial defense system that protects bacteria from viral infections. Conducting research in a lab not only mimics a real-world, hands-on setting but also opened doors for Peralta Acosta from speaking at national conferences to a widening range of graduate schools.

While soccer and her major have consumed the bulk of her time over the past four years, Peralta Acosta has carved out space to give back, serving as a tutor the past two years and sharing her passion for science with younger students, imparting on them how “life changing” science can be—something she can attest to firsthand. 

“I really enjoy tutoring and mentoring underclassmen and sharing my experiences. And one of my favorite things about my job is getting to know people.” 

Educating the whole person—the foundation of SU’s Jesuit mission—is meaningful to Peralta Acosta as she believes the university truly walks the talk. “I feel it’s very present, from the courses to the professors to the Core Curriculum. It’s also about social justice—and recognizing injustice—in the world around us.”

As she nears the completion of her time at SU, Peralta Acosta reflects on the past four years and what—besides her degree—she will take with her from her time here.

“I’m so thankful and grateful for the whole SU community. Everyone here is very supportive and they help you embrace who you are and who you want to be. And my professors have been amazing mentors and little by little helped me find my way.”

And what would she tell incoming students? “In terms of academics, I’d say your first year is very important. One of the biggest struggles from high school to college is how independent you now are so make sure you have your priorities set,” she says. “In terms of … more life advice, I’d tell them to be open, to expect anything. I came here without a plan, except for soccer. Be flexible. Try a class that you might not think you are interested in.”

While her immediate focus post-commencement is grad school, looking ahead when she contemplates a dream job she’s employing that same flexibility and open-mindedness that she encourages in those coming behind her. Though her main options as of now are to stay in biotech and either going the corporate route or working in academia—the latter perhaps providing more of a directional pull.

“Heart of my heart I’d like to stay in academia, being a university professor or doing academic research,” she says. “My professors are superheroes!”

Some of Julieta’s favorites…

• Favorite spot on campus: The fourth floor of the Sinegal Center and the little green park in front of the Quad.
• Favorite spot in Seattle: The parks—Gas Works and Volunteer Park—and the Washington Arboretum. I enjoy being outside.
• Favorite food/restaurant: Momiji for sushi or, if on a budget, Peloton.
• Favorite music/band/artist: Bad Bunny
• Favorite book/author: I really like Breaking Through: My Life in Science by Katalin Karikó.
• Favorite TV show last binged: I have been binging The Last of Us and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

The House vs. NCAA settlement is finally approved, and college football’s operating structure is forever transformed.  

Schools will pay athletes directly with most Power Four football programs expected to distribute at least $14-16 million annually. There are new roster caps. There’s now a clearinghouse responsible for determining fair market value with NIL deals.

The changes are designed with the intent to bring stability and circumvent future lawsuits. So, no more chaos, right?

Right …?

RIGHT!?

The bad news 

If you believe that I have some oceanfront property in Arizona that you can get for a great deal. College athletics may be entering a new era, but the same issues that have caused anarchy in college football over the last half decade are foundational elements of the sport’s governing structure.

The NCAA still lacks an anti-trust exemption.

The NCAA nor its member schools collectively bargain with their athletes.

Lacking one or both of those elements means any changes that come with House are stopgap measures — flimsy walls constructed to stem a tide of change that continues to erode the old structure of the sport.

“All these rules are … very arbitrary and are not bargained with the players,” said Darren Heitner, a sports attorney with a large presence in the NIL space. “Until the NCAA decides to treat the players as employees or a unit to bargain with, they’re going to be stuck with challenges on their anti-trust law.”

I’ll see you in court

Remember, those lawsuits — from states and athletes alike — are the mechanisms that pushed the NCAA further and further away from its amateurism North Star.  

The NCAA didn’t allow athletes to make money off their name, image and likeness. So, California passed a law that made it legal for colleges in that state to pay their athletes. That piece of legislation set off dominoes nationally and eventually forced the NCAA to adopt similar rules.

When the NCAA attempted to enforce its rules surrounding NIL — like boosters striking a deal with an athlete or a collective negotiating with an athlete before he enrolled — a state government once again enacted pressure. 

Tennessee’s attorney general sued on behalf of the Nico Iamaleava and the Vols, who were under NCAA investigation for rule violations dating back to Iamaleava’s recruitment. That suit was successful and essentially broke the NCAA’s NIL enforcement mechanism, rendering the association almost powerless to control the obvious rule breaking that continues to occur.  

Athletes pushed the NCAA through the courts, too.

Lawsuits shifted the NCAA’s transfer rules, creating an environment where players can change schools as often as they’d like in their careers. Challenges to the NCAA’s eligibility rules from those like Diego Pavia have shattered the NCAA’s long-held stance that players only receive four seasons of eligibility across five total years.

Legislation aimed at the NCAA’s potential anti-trust violations has been successful again and again this decade. 

The House Settlement isn’t going to stop athletes from attempting to force change in the courtroom. 

The House Settlement puts an annual cap on how much schools can pay their athletes via revenue sharing. The settlement also attempts to dictate who determines fair market value on NIL deals. Athletes will almost assuredly test those restrictions in court. 

“There will definitely be more lawsuits on that issue,” said attorney Mit Winter, a lawyer who works heavily in the NIL space. “The rules that are coming out of the House Settlement don’t have any anti-trust protections.”

It only takes one desperate school to push the boundaries of fair market value. If you don’t think a school will get creative — i.e. break the rules — to find an extra $500,000 for a five-star recruit, you are probably one of those people who believes wads of cash show up in a McDonald’s bag during a recruiting trip by accident.

Schools do whatever it takes to get an edge. If their mechanism for landing a high-profile recruit is limited by a pseudo salary cap, you can bet a lawsuit won’t be far behind attempting to bust that rule.

The NCAA doesn’t have an anti-trust exemption that protects it from those challenges. Artificially placing a cap on someone’s salary is generally considered anti-competitive in America. That won’t change under the rules of the House Settlement even if a governor on compensation makes sense for the overall competitiveness of the sport.

In fact, several states, like Tennessee and New Jersey, have enacted state laws that prevent the NCAA from penalizing its schools for paying NIL to its athletes. 

Eligibility lawsuits won’t stop either. Even if the NCAA at some point allows players five full seasons of eligibility, what prevents a player who just had his eligibility expire under the old rules to sue for the ability to return to the sport for another year?

There will be probable challenges on the grounds of Title IX, especially when you consider the large majority of schools participating in the House Settlement will funnel the majority of their rev share money to men’s sports. 

That’s the thing about the House Settlement. Yes, it transforms the way college athletics operates and pushes it toward a near professional model. But the key word there is “near.” The NCAA is still operating a business based on the principle that its labor force isn’t technically labor. Athletes are not employees of the school. They lack the ability to collectively bargain.

The House Settlement does nothing to change that. If anything, it might embolden further challenges to the rules given how successful that strategy has proven over the last few years.