LEXINGTON, KY (LEX 18) — July 1 marked one of the most important days in the college sports calendar, and it wasn't because of anything happening on the field.
The changes stemming from the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit went into effect on Tuesday, bringing massive changes to the economics of college sports. Not only will college athletes from 2016 to 2021 get compensated with $2.8 billion in back pay, but future student-athletes have a new way to get paid.
After the settlement was approved in June, that triggered the ability for schools to use up to $20.5 million dollars in revenue sharing to share with athletes directly. All Power Five conference schools agreed to the settlement, and all other Division I schools had until Monday to opt in to the ability to share revenue.
Loyola University Chicago Director of Sport Management Noah Henderson said the deal, "effectively will professionalize college sports."
It is up to every school individually to decide where the revenue sharing pool will come from. According to the University of Kentucky athletics website, UK plans to "fully participate" in that pool of money.
In order to put UK in position to do so, Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart helped establish a separate Limited Liability Company called Champions Blue in April. This strategically places the athletic department into a position to take investments in from the school to aid in supplying the revenue sharing pool.
"I think this one is a little more unique as it allows us flexibility to work with public-private partnerships in joint venture agreements," Barnhart told LEX 18 following April's UK Board of Trustees meeting.
Additionally, student-athletes can seek out Name, Image and Likeness engagements. For any deal exceeding $600, though, a third-party clearinghouse run by Deloitte must ensure a NIL deal has fair market value. If not, that deal could be denied.
Had a great conversation today with @NoahImgLikeness about everything that has changed following the settlement of the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit.
— Noah Cierzan (@ncierzan) July 1, 2025
One key change that started today is enforcement of NIL 'fair market' value through a third-party clearinghouse ⬇️@LEX18News pic.twitter.com/R5pytoXbVa
In one of the final big changes, scholarship limits have been eliminated across all sports. Instead, total roster limits have been put into place. In football, for example, the scholarship limit of 85 has been changed to 105 roster spots. Any student-athlete on a roster would be eligible for an academic scholarship.
With the possibility of multiyear contracts on the table, Henderson expects the fluidity of roster movement to slow from the rapid pace in recent years.
"I think what we're going to see through the settlement is a lot more stability in college athletics," Henderson said. "You're going to see athletes be disincentivized to transfer so you're going to have more loyalty in college sports."
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