Now that a federal judge has approved the House settlement, clearing the way for colleges to pay student-athletes directly, the commissioners of the Power Five athletic conferences are applauding the decision. This is, of course, the height of irony as the organizations they run and are a part of are the entities that were being sued in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit.
After the verdict was announced, the commissioners of the SEC (Greg Sankey), Big Ten (Tony Petitti), Big 12 (Brett Yormark), ACC (Jim Phillips), and Pac-12 (Teresa Gould) all had their say. They were all (at least publicly) supportive of the decision.
“We look forward to implementing this historic settlement designed to bring stability, integrity and competitive balance to college athletics while increasing both scholarship and revenue opportunities for student-athletes in all sports,” Petitti said.
“This is a significant moment for college athletics that will provide unparalleled opportunities for student-athletes. We look forward to implementing this new system which offers much-needed transparency and structure to create a more sustainable model for the long-term future of college athletics,” Phillips added.
“As we enter this new era of college athletics, it is crucial we do so with structure, transparency, and the success of student-athletes in mind — this settlement and new model will ensure that happens. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues to implement this new system that prioritizes fairness and opportunity for all student-athletes and institutions,” said Yormark.
“It’s a new day in collegiate athletics. This historic moment allows us to maintain what makes college sports special, the development of young individuals through sport, while also evolving to meet today’s student-athletes where they are with new opportunities in a manner that provides long-term stability for collegiate athletics. I am proud to work alongside my colleagues as we implement and introduce the future of college sports,” Gould responded.
“The approval of the House settlement agreement represents a significant milestone for the meaningful support of our student-athletes and a pivotal step toward establishing long-term sustainability for college sports, two of the Southeastern Conference’s top priorities. As the journey to modernize collegiate sports continues, we remain focused on identifying and implementing innovative opportunities for our student-athletes across all sports while maintaining the core values that make collegiate athletics uniquely meaningful,” noted Sankey.
Despite what the conference commissioners are saying about the House settlement, the colleges and universities they represent are already working on ways to skirt the spirit of the settlement and pass the cost of paying athletes on to others.
“Some schools are increasing costs to fans through ‘talent fees,’ concession price hikes and ‘athletic fees’ added to tuition costs,” AP reports.
So, while this represents a significant step in college athletes finally getting their fair share of the revenue they bring in to their institutions, it seems as though getting the schools to actually pay up will take more time, despite what the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, and Pac-12 commissioners say in statements.
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