A seismic shift in the world of college athletics took place late last week when the NCAA Board of Governors decided to settle an old name, image and likeness, or NIL, lawsuit for $2.8 billion, and the really big change was the decision to now share revenue with its Division I student-athletes.
Both announcements were huge for thousands of student-athletes who have been involved in a form of indentured servitude for decades. Student-athletes at Power Four schools and Notre Dame will now get to split $21 million annually, beginning in the fall of 2025.
But the news may not be promising or lucrative for mid-major programs, FCS schools, and definitely not for athletic programs at historically Black colleges and universities.
Just when the HBCUs were beginning to understand the NIL and NCAA transfer portal phenomena, these latest decisions could push the haves and have-nots light years apart.
“The college landscape is changing,” said Anton Goff, athletic director at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, once the revenue-sharing model was announced last week. “You try to address one issue, then two more pop up.”
(SOURCE: BAY STATE BANNER)
