"Lawyers will find way to make this even worse": CFB world baffled by $2.8 billion House vs NCAA settlement judgement

The CFB world has been eagerly anticipating the House vs NCAA settlement regarding student athlete payment. Since the inception of the NCAA and 1906, student athletes have never been directly paid by universities or their programs. That is changing with this new ruling.

On Friday, Judge Claudia Wilken approved a landmark settlement in the House vs. NCAA case. According to a report from On3 insider Pete Nakos, schools will be operating with a $20.5 million revenue share salary cap for the first year. For football, it is expected to be within $13 and $16 million. Schools are hoping to circumvent that via NIL payments.

Pete Nakos

@PeteNakos_

Schools will be operating with roughly a $20.5 million rev-share salary cap in Year 1. For football, that's expected to be $13 to $16 million.

Schools hope to circumvent that with NIL payments, which will have to be put through the NIL Go clearinghouse. Expect lawsuits.

https://x.com/PeteNakos_/status/1931160602484858941

After this news was announced, CFB fans reacted on X.

"Lawyers will find a way to make this even worse," one fan wrote.

"Rich non-football mid major basketball schools putting it all on basketball - after they dominate final fours and championships for a few years Power schools will put it all towards football," one fan commented.

"The rev share piece is the easy part. It’s the NIL Go clearinghouse piece that is going to blow this thing into a legal spiderweb when schools that are currently just paying kids through booster cash and not through legitimate NIL contracts start getting deals denied for being illegitimate," one fan added.

Fans continued to react in the comments.

"Nil and talent about to be equal. This helps teams like Auburn. Hurts team like Ohio State," one fan wrote.

"I think student athletes should get what ever they can through actual NIL revenue deals; legalized bag men(collectives) should be shut down and made illegal," one fan commented.

"Interesting setup. The NIL Go clearinghouse could complicate payments, giving rise to legal ambiguities over cap workarounds," one fan added.

CFB is expected to receive the largest share of the salary cap

The House vs NCAA settlement was approved on Friday, and with it, the new revenue-sharing model will go into effect. In the new model, schools will be able to allocate $20.5 million annually to pay student athletes.

CFB is expected to receive the largest share of the cap at 75%. Men's college basketball will receive 15$, women's college basketball will get 5% and the rest of college sports will receive 5%.

The new model will be in effect for the 2025 CFB season. As a result, Power Four CFB programs are expected to have between $13 and $16 million to spend on their rosters.