Jamaican student athletes could be among those who are set to get paid, after the NCAA and its five power conferences in the United States, completed voting on Thursday night to approve a settlement agreement that paves the way for Universities to begin paying athletes directly.
This is a change that will ultimately crush any last notions of amateurism in major College sports.
The agreement, which covers three antitrust cases, includes almost $2.8 billion in damages to be distributed to current and former athletes, who sued in House vs NCAA over not being compensated for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) on television broadcasts.
But no matter how high the damages are, the most far-reaching component of the settlement terms is a new revenue-sharing model, which would pay athletes a cut of money their schools generate from broadcast rights deals, ticket sales and sponsorships, among other streams.
Legal analyst and Senior sports legal reporter at Sportico Michael McCann speaking with NBC sports explains this is a gradual move from amateurism in college sports.
In a joint statement Thursday night, the NCAA and conferences announced that they had agreed to the initial terms.
Should the settlement go through, revenue sharing probably would begin at the start of the 2025-26 academic year.
McCann explains where the money should be coming from to pay
