After months of uncertainty and a lack of direction, the world of college athletics finally has a foundation for the new model of paying college athletes.
The settlement will not only pay billions of dollars in back pay to college athletes who did not have the opportunity for name, image, and likeness compensation, but it also allows institutions to compensate athletes directly.
“We needed some step in the right direction of creating some stability,” Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain said. “I think there's a lot of positives for student-athletes, and I think there's a lot of positives just for our industry in general, to try to create some sort of balance and understanding what the rules are.”
There are still many questions that will need to be answered later, most of which will become clearer with the outcome of more expected lawsuits. However, every school now has a base and guidance to formulate and navigate the new age of college athletics financially.
“We are still kind of taking this day by day, month by month and year by year,” McClain said. “We’re trying to make decisions in the here and now really not knowing what the next five or 10 years is going to look like.”
WHAT WILL USM’S SPENDING LIMIT LOOK LIKE?
Perhaps the biggest news that came out of the NCAA settlement is that schools will have a spending limit of $20.5 million on their revenue sharing. Southern Miss, which had an athletic budget of over $29 million in 2024, will not be hitting that cap figure.
“We will not be bumping against that number,” McClain said. “I think most programs outside of the top 40 or 50 are not going to bump into that number. I think people are going to have to pick where they invest, and we’re going to be the same way.”
McClain could not share a specific number of how much the department’s budget will devote to revenue sharing but said it should be in the range of seven figures.
“We know what we want to do, but I don’t want to share today because it may change,” McClain said.
How each school divvies up its money for revenue sharing will vary, but most schools are expected to invest the majority of its money into football. The guidelines by most schools will be 75% go to football, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball, and 5% to the remaining sports.
“I think every campus is a little bit different,” McClain said. “I think it depends on the competitiveness of certain sports like baseball is for us.
“We don't run an organization that has a lot of fat on the bone, and so there's not extra dollars. We're fundraising almost all of this money to offset some areas where we can then share revenue. The new money that comes into the organization really is going to have to be fundraised”.
THE TTT COLLECTIVE WILL REMAIN
Some universities will opt to get rid of their collectives, but Southern Miss plans to continue its partnership with the To The Top Collective.
“I think we’re still going to utilize our collective when we can,” McClain said. “We are still going to have a close relationship with the collective. They’re still going to have a role in what we’re doing for our student-athletes.
“There will be revenue sharing on one side, but we're going to be working with the collective on the other.”
According to McClain, one of the key reasons Southern Miss will continue to use the TTT Collective is because of its strong foundation.
“I think there are some places who opted to (absorb their collectives),” McClain said. “Most places who have opted to do that didn’t have a strong collective. I think you will see most places that have a strong collective work side by side as we get into this revenue sharing.“
GRANDFATHER ROSTERS?
Overall, McClain wasn’t surprised by the final opinion and ruling on the NCAA settlement. The most immediate question that he believes Southern Miss will face is how to factor in the grandfathering of student-athletes due to the newly introduced roster limits.
“The end result was about what we expected,” McClain said. “There’s still some clarity and questions to be answered on roster limits and grandfathering people on rosters. We have a direction there, but we want to make sure that we have the right answers.”
Under the plan, athletes who had their positions cut will be eligible for reinstatement at schools’ discretion. It also permits athletes who leave or are not retained by their current school to keep their grandfather status at a new school. Proposed rosters include football (105), men’s and women’s basketball (15), baseball (34), men’s and women’s soccer (28), softball (25) and volleyball (18).
“We want some firm answers on what we can and can't do,” McClain said. “My understanding at this point is anybody who either would have been released to get to a roster limit will basically be on a designated list. So whether they're at the current institution or if they travel to another institution, they would not count against anybody's roster limit. I think that's the way we're trying to approach that right now. We're trying to get our arms around that and, again, get some questions answered, but that's what it looks like.”
For example, the initial roster limit in baseball was 40, but it is now reduced to 34. At the same time, there is no scholarship limit, but how that is utilized is up to each school. Those extra six athletes would be placed on a designated list.
“All the answers aren’t there yet,” McClain said. “If they got to a new institution, I don’t know the answer yet on whether they can receive athletic aid or not. There are still some hanging questions out there about some of the grandfathering in the roster.
“It's going to feel a little bit like COVID, probably, where you've got a few years of some extra spots on rosters. It'll take a few years for that to kind of play itself out.”
MOVING FORWARD
For McClain, the two main overall industry questions are the sustainability of the new business model in college sports and whether the current model will remain intact in the eyes of the law.
“I think the question for a lot of people is how sustainable long term,” McClain said. “We are in a good spot, but that will be the thing for the next five years if it's something that we can sustain. Not we, Southern Miss, but we as an industry. I think that's one thing we'll always keep an eye on and continue to focus on, and then will this stay together in a court of law.”
Overall, Southern Miss will, in general, continue its operation as it has been. The department will try to develop more efficient methods for spending its money on athletes; however, it will continue to need fans to engage and buy tickets.
“We’re focused on is making sure that we can generate enough money to share that we remain competitive, and I think we’re in a really good spot,” McClain said. “Our focus is getting out in front of our folks, telling our story, raising the dollars we need to raise to make sure we can be competitive.
“Our folks have been great, and our fanbase has responded really well to the asks. We need people to continue to do what they’ve been doing, which is buy tickets, participate and engage. That’s how we continue to be competitive.”
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