SEC Football Coaches Say Their Rosters Will Cost $15 Million. But Will They Get It?

This week, multiple SEC football coaches told Yahoo! Sports that they expect to be able to pay up to $15 million per year to their own football players—money resulting from the House v. NCAA settlement. But they could be very wrong.

The settlement, announced in May, wraps up three lawsuits over athlete compensation limits. The House case specifically argues that broadcast revenue should be considered NIL for power conference athletes—and that players should, therefore, get a cut of the billion-dollar television deals their conferences and schools have enjoyed. Part of the agreement will allow for schools to share up to about $22 million per year with all the players in their athletic department.

But how that $22 million will be distributed remains unclear.

For one thing, the settlement hasn’t been finalized. It still needs to be submitted to the judge for approval, and then it will go through an objections period for plaintiffs. (One FCS school, Houston Christian University, has already submitted a formal objection.) 

Once finalized, the settlement itself will likely not address how much money each team will receive. SEC coaches arrived at their number on the assumption that they’ll receive 70% of the House payments, given that their football teams bring in 70% of athletic department revenue. But Title IX, the federal statute governing gender equity in higher education and college sports, could dictate a completely different formula, forcing schools to dish out the cash in a more equitable manner between male and female athletes. And then, of course, there’s the internal politics of each athletic department, which could alter the formula based on year-to-year priorities.

In other words, there’s no guarantee that the SEC coaches will get their wish.