Colleges Are Now Allowed to Pay NCAA Athletes Directly After Judge Approves Settlement

The NCAA’s amateurism model has officially been reshaped.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken gave final approval to a $2.8 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA case, marking a monumental turning point in college sports history.

Starting July 1, NCAA Division I schools will be permitted to compensate athletes directly, forever altering the dynamic between collegiate athletics and the business of sports.

For the first time, athletes will receive direct payments from their schools.

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These funds are guided by a salary cap, initially set at $20.5 million per school, which will increase over the next decade.

This cap represents 22% of total revenue from sources such as ticket sales, broadcasting, and sponsorships.

Most of these funds will likely go to sports that generate the most revenue, including football and basketball, though schools will have flexibility in how they allocate this money.

Beyond paying current athletes, the settlement includes a substantial $2.8 billion damages pool to compensate former athletes who played from 2016 to 2024 and were ineligible for name, image, and likeness (NIL) earnings during their careers.

The settlement not only allows schools to pay athletes but also introduces new structures to monitor and enforce these payments.

The College Sports Commission, a new enforcement body, will oversee compliance, ensure salary caps are respected, and review NIL contracts for fairness.

Deloitte will manage an NIL clearinghouse to vet endorsement deals and curb inappropriate financial arrangements, such as booster-backed contracts designed to bypass team salary caps.

This decision has brought college sports into what some are calling a “professionalized framework.”

For decades, athletes were restricted to scholarships and modest benefits while schools raked in billions from game-related revenues.

Now, student-athletes will receive a share of these profits, aligning their compensation more directly with the value they generate for their institutions.

NCAA President Charlie Baker praised the decision, calling it:

“a huge step forward for college sports.”

However, this isn’t the end of the transformation.

The move sets the stage for further discussions around creating a more sustainable regulatory structure, potentially involving federal legislation to address outstanding legal challenges.

While historic, the agreement isn’t without obstacles.

The introduction of salary caps and formal compensation frameworks may invite future lawsuits, especially around Title IX compliance and the fairness of enforcement practices.

Additionally, some worry the changes will widen the divide between wealthy programs and smaller schools that may struggle to meet financial expectations.

The settlement also raises questions about the future role of NIL collectives, as schools begin to manage payments in-house.

Critics argue that overly stringent regulation of NIL deals could spark further litigation.

The NCAA settlement is a groundbreaking achievement, promising to improve athletes’ lives while modernizing an outdated system.

However, as college sports leadership navigates this uncharted territory, the coming years will undoubtedly present additional tests and opportunities for reform.

For now, though, athletes and advocates alike can celebrate the long-awaited recognition of their contributions to the multi-billion-dollar industry of college sports.

Here are five top stories you may have missed this week.

Downtown Athens hosts annual PrideFest

Hundreds gathered downtown for Athens’ annual PrideFest that was held on Saturday. The event was held to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community in Athens. Attendees from all over the state visited vendors, booths and shows before watching the large parade that began at 5 p.m. PrideFest, originally scheduled to run till 10 p.m., ended early in the evening due to inclement weather. 

Read more about PrideFest here.  

UGA 2025 football schedule times announced

The University of Georgia released its full 2025 football season schedule. The schedule sees the Bulldogs playing in seven home games, three away games and two neutral site games. 

The Bulldogs will face off against Marshall at Sanford Stadium in the team’s season opener on Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m. 

Read more about the schedule release here.

Athens advocate Tim Denson announces campaign for ACC mayor

Tim Denson, advocate and public servant, announced his campaign for Athens-Clarke County mayor. Denson previously served as District 5 commissioner from 2019 to 2022 and was former president and organization coordinator of the advocacy group Athens for Everyone.

The Athens-Clarke County mayoral election is in May 2026.

Read more about Denson’s campaign announcement here. 

Rock Lobsters name Garrett Rutledge as new head coach

The Athens Rock Lobsters announced that Garret Rutledge will be the team’s new general manager of hockey operations and head coach for next season. Rutledge will replace Steve Martinson who announced his departure to return to the Allen Americans of the ECHL.

Rutledge was previously named the 2023 Federal Prospects Hockey League Coach of the Year after leading the Carolina Thunderbirds to a division title. 

Read more about Rutledge’s hire here and an in-depth interview with Rutledge here. 

Benjamin Ayers appointed UGA provost following S. Jack Hu’s departure

Benjamin Ayers, dean of the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business, will become the University of Georgia’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, UGA President Jere W. Morehead announced on May 29.

Ayers will fill the position previously held by S. Jack Hu who stepped down to become chancellor of the University of California, Riverside. 

Read more about Ayers’ appointment here.

Nighthawks’ Summer Stevens caps soccer career in style

Published 7:13 am Monday, June 9, 2025

I almost didn’t come to UCLA.

You could probably count on one hand the number of students who attended an Ivy League university in the history of my high school. Prestigious universities were not a regular topic of conversation, and most people ended up going to college somewhere nearby, along the coast of Southern California.

So as a senior, I followed suit and toured the small list of private religious schools and Cal State schools that graduates of my high school typically attended. But no matter how hard I tried to envision myself at these schools, none of them felt right.

Given how obsessive I was over maintaining a perfect GPA in high school, community college was never on the table for me. So when my parents suggested I spend two more years at home, I was immediately against the idea.

That was not how I envisioned my college experience.

It hurt to watch my peers start their new lives in college, while I was stuck at home. But I held onto the belief that there had to be something bigger waiting for me.

Community college ended up being wonderful.

I rediscovered my love for soccer, made lifelong friendships and memories with my teammates and got to spend two more years living with my family.

Despite my ability to make the best out of a situation I never thought I would be in, I spent every night wondering if my hard work would ever pay off.

That moment finally came when an acceptance email from UCLA landed in my inbox in April 2023. It wasn’t until then that I started to realize community college was not a detour but actually a step toward a life I never could have imagined as a high schooler.

I always loved to write. As a little kid, I wrote, illustrated and constructed my own book about a girl who turned into a hot dog.

But there was never a space beyond the classroom for me to fully dive into my knack for writing. That is, until I saw that applications were open for the Daily Bruin.

Unlike the other club applications I was filling out during those first few weeks at UCLA, I genuinely enjoyed the Daily Bruin application process. Even though I had zero experience in journalism, responding to the prompts felt natural, almost easy.

I jumped right into the deep end of journalism as part of the gymnastics beat. Although I had only ever watched gymnastics a few times during the Olympics, I was tasked with writing breaking wraps about the meets and generating interview questions for a sport I knew nothing about.

The Daily Bruin challenged me like I had never been challenged before – and I loved it.

I will never forget my first experience as a student reporter. As I sat at the media table alongside gymnastics editor Ben Royer and fellow intern, soon-to-be gymnastics editor Aaron Doyle at Meet the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion in December 2023, I was captivated by the fast-paced environment and thrill of being so close to the action.

And that thrill has yet to fade.

As I reflect on these last two years with the Daily Bruin, I realize this newspaper was the “something bigger” that I had been waiting for in community college. Without it, my passion for elevating women’s presence in the sports industry and increasing coverage of women’s sports might have stayed buried.

I often think about what would have happened if I had not gone to community college, UCLA or joined the Daily Bruin.

I would have never gotten the chance to travel to Berkeley and Salt Lake City to cover the gymnastics team at back-to-back NCAA Regionals. I would have never been in the background of the televised March Madness selection show when UCLA earned its first No. 1 overall seed in program history. I would have never interviewed two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles or met National Softball Hall of Famer Lisa Fernandez.

I would have never applied for an internship at Dodgers Nation, where I got to cover the Los Angeles Dodgers on their 2024 World Series run – and where I’ll continue working after graduation. I would not be packing my bags to head to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series – a tournament I have been watching on TV with my mom for years.

Like community college, journalism was never part of the plan, but now, I can’t imagine my life without it.

As my time at the Daily Bruin comes to an end and I prepare to tackle the unpredictabilities of post-grad life in New York City, I have learned not to fear the unknown because the best experiences in life are often the ones you do not anticipate.

Going to community college was hard and something I never expected. I spent two years waiting for it to finally be “my turn.”

But the Daily Bruin was absolutely worth the wait.

Garcia was Sports staff from 2024-2025 and a Sports contributor and reporter from 2023-2024.