College athletics is again going through some seismic shifts, and the latest came from the approved House Settlement last week. It’ll significantly alter Name, Image and Likeness, how kids transfer, and more. If programs haven’t gotten out in front of what everyone knew was coming, they are already behind.
The Ohio State athletic department seems to be one of the programs that has its ducks in a row as another new era in college athletics begins. With athletic departments now expected to distribute funds directly to players, they need to find a way to pay out approximately $20.5 million and allocate those payments across the athletic universe on their college campuses.
There’s simply no way to pay every athlete in every athletic program where it’s worth much, so Ohio State has a plan to start with four sports. OSU Athletic Director Ross Bjork met with the media on Thursday and went deeper into what this House Settlement with the NCAA means, and he touched on revenue pay. According to Bjork, the Buckeye athletic department will begin making payments to football, as well as men’s and women’s basketball, and lastly, women’s volleyball. All of the $20.5 million will count towards scholarships handed out across all sports, but the remaining $18 million will be doled out to these four sports.
That’s interesting, and for sure football and men’s and women’s basketball make a lot of sense. I’m sure there was equity between male and female sports discussed here, but you have to wonder why softball wasn’t a part of the initial equation — especially with the rise in popularity.
Regardless, it’s a starting point and something that could change in the future, but we all know it starts and pretty much ends with football in Columbus, and that will always be the case as the biggest revenue-generating sport that funds all others.
At some point, we’ll get a look at what each of the athletic departments in the Big Ten and across the country decide to do, and it’s important to note that NIL still plays a part, but not as much as it did before without gaining clearance from the Clearing House. It’s just another swift change in college athletics, and you can bet the dust has yet to settle.