SAN ANTONIO — On Monday night, Florida and Houston will face off in the NCAA men’s national championship game. Several hours earlier, in a courtroom in Oakland, Northern District of California judge Claudia Wilken will preside over an approval for the proposed House v. NCAA settlement—which would allow schools to pay players for the first time in NCAA history.

The hearing is slated to span several hours and conclude shortly before tipoff in San Antonio. It will feature testimony from some of the dozens of objectors to the proposed agreement, from lawyers to athletes like LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who have submitted concerns over the expected legality of new NIL restrictions and the revenue-sharing cap, gender disparities in payments, and negative impact of roster limits.

Wilken is not expected to issue a decision from the bench Monday afternoon, NCAA president Charlie Baker told reporters Saturday before the Final Four—but he hopes to glean insight into the way Wilken is leaning. If approved, the settlement would take effect next season and could have major implications for the future of athletic department composition and basketball-only schools.

What’s At Stake

The settlement, between a group of D-I athletes and the NCAA and power conferences for three lawsuits filed over the past few years, would offer $2.8 billion in damages to players who couldn’t earn NIL money before the NCAA changed its rules in 2021. It would also allow schools to share a portion of their athletic department revenue (earmarked as NIL earnings from appearing on broadcasts) with all players, beginning at $20.5 million this upcoming year.

The settlement is antithetical to the NCAA’s entire business model of “amateurism,” which holds that schools shouldn’t be allowed to pay players for participating on teams because they aren’t professionals. But the governing body and power conferences have agreed to it to save billions in damages if they lose at trial, as well as to maintain a modicum of control over future college sports compensation rules.

For more on the House v. NCAA case, read Amanda Christovich’s full story here.

TAMPA, Fla. — Just a few hours before tipoff of the Women’s Final Four matchups Friday, Front Office Sports welcomed 140 movers and shakers in women’s basketball for food and conversation at our Courtside Collective event with Optimum Sports, ESPN, and Eli Lilly & Company. Notable attendees included veteran SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm, Women’s Sports Network president Carol Stiff, and former WNBA All-Star turned Dallas Wings executive Jasmine Thomas.

Speakers on our two lively panel chats included ESPN basketball analyst Monica McNutt, ESPN marketing VP Jo Fox, Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler, Oregon basketball star Deja Kelly (host of the FOS show NILOSOPHY), Eli Lilly chief brand officer Lina Polimeni, and five-time NBA All-Star John Wall.

You can imagine which topics came up again and again: NIL money and its impact on the college game; how women’s hoops can continue to meet the moment as well as the added pressure; and how the success of women’s sports has raised the expectations for facilities and amenities from women’s teams and leagues.

Here are three notable soundbites from the event.

• Monica McNutt, who played at Georgetown, on the rising expectations for facilities: “I can remember 2007–2011 being at Georgetown and the men’s program had Jordan gear, we had Nike gear. And during my four years, I got more tournament wins than the dudes, for the record. But there was still this sense that men’s basketball drives Georgetown, men’s basketball this, and we still had second class. Now, me, in my ‘gratitude is a way of being,’ I walked away from that experience and said, ‘I got a free degree, it’s cool.’ It’s not cool though … This generation of athlete understands that while I’m grateful to be here, there is a standard that exists for me as a professional athlete, let alone being a woman, so you are now calling out what is this team offering as far as the support services … because the window of second-class athlete based on gender has closed.”
• John Wall, a No. 1 NBA draft pick, on the NIL era: “I think it’s great, but I think the most important thing is the foundation they have, if it’s their mom or dad or somebody that’s mentored them. Because some kids can take NIL the wrong way and not put the work in… But I think it’s great and it’s an opportunity to be a businessperson very young… I wish I had NIL when I was in college. But I think it’s dope. I think they gotta do a better job of controlling what it’s going to be like. You don’t want to see so many kids going into the portal every year.”
• Deja Kelly, who played in the past five NCAA tournaments and just declared for the WNBA draft, on the importance of college athletes converting NIL deals into endorsement deals when they go pro: “The salary is not where it needs to be from the WNBA, which is why women’s players—pros—rely so much on brand endorsements. That’s why it’s such a big deal, so we don’t have to go overseas in the offseason to be able to make that money up, so we don’t have to have a whole other side job in the offseason.”

Make sure you stick with FOS for our continued extensive coverage of the booming business of women’s sports, especially now that we have Annie Costabile, who joined us last week and hosted the second panel, covering the beat full-time.