The House v. NCAA Ruling: The Beginning of the End

Summary of the Ruling: On June 27, 2024, in the case of House v. NCAA, a federal judge approved a $2.8 billion settlement requiring the NCAA and major conferences to compensate former college athletes for use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) prior to July 1, 2021. This historic ruling doesn’t just mark a financial reckoning, it paves the way for future revenue sharing with athletes and fundamentally undermines the NCAA’s long-standing amateurism model. ESPN | The Athletic

"$2.8 billion is just the first payment — the real bill is coming... from the lawyers."

This Is Not the End — It's Normandy There’s a tendency to look at moments like this and think, “That’s it. It’s over.” But history reminds us that even decisive turning points are often just the start of a longer, grueling battle. Think of the storming of the beaches of Normandy in World War II. It was a critical moment, and a major shift in momentum, but it wasn't the end of the war.

The Normandy invasion, or D-Day, was a monumental, multinational effort. The Allies didn’t just send troops. They built entire fake airfields to mislead the Germans, employed double agents to feed Hitler disinformation, and coordinated with the French Resistance to sabotage rail lines, bridges, and German communication infrastructure. Thousands of paratroopers were dropped behind enemy lines the night before. Gliders crash-landed with troops and equipment. Amphibious tanks rolled off ships under heavy fire. And once the beachhead was secured, Allied engineers rapidly built roads, ports, and airstrips to sustain the offensive.

It was a masterclass in coordination, deception, sacrifice, and resolve.

This ruling feels like our Normandy. It took steps including NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, O'Bannon v. NCAA, Alston v. NCAA, Johnson v. NCAA and House v. NCAA for the players to finally establish a beachhead, but it's only the beginning of the end for the amateurism regime because there is a long, hard road ahead.

What Comes Next: A Legal Minefield The House ruling doesn’t solve the system — it exposes it further. In fact, it opens up even more legal and structural challenges:

1. Title IX Suits: If male athletes in revenue sports are being paid, how does equal opportunity apply under Title IX? Already, lawsuits and appeals have been filed in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement, including one from former women's athletes arguing that the deal disproportionately benefits men and may violate federal gender equity law. (Source)

2. Employment & Collective Bargaining: Players will push to be classified as employees with the right to unionize and negotiate contracts. The recent attempt by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team to unionize (and the legal battles that followed) highlight the growing momentum in this area. Although the effort was ultimately unsuccessful, it signals a new wave of challenges to the NCAA’s traditional structure, and more lawsuits like this are likely on the horizon. (Source)

3. NIL Valuation Disputes: Programs like "NILGo" that try to set "fair market value" may be challenged, because if a business offers a player $500k, isn’t that the market?

4. Pay-for-Play Lawsuits: The blurred line between NIL and pay-for-play will draw legal scrutiny. Everyone knows it’s pay-for-play, they’re just pretending it isn’t, and the NIL arms race is only picking up momentum.

5. Purgatory for Non-RevGen Sports: What happens to athletes in Olympic or non-revenue generating sports? Will they be left behind?

6. The Fate of DII and DIII: These schools don’t have the revenue to keep up. Will they break away or collapse under pressure?

7. Championship Chaos: How do we structure events like March Madness when some teams are in the RevGen system and others are not?

8. Athletic Department Downsizing: Expect cuts in staffing and programs to free up funds for player compensation.

9. Power 4 Consolidation: The Power 4 conferences are reshaping the postseason (especially the CFP) to entrench their advantage in this new system.

10. State Laws, Federal Intervention, broadcast deals...oh and Academics...

Charlie Baker: Running for Cover Instead of confronting these issues head-on, NCAA President Charlie Baker is doing what the NCAA has done for decades: avoiding accountability. Rather than crafting a bold vision for the future, he’s sprinting to Capitol Hill, begging Congress to pass a law that would prohibit athletes from being classified as employees.

It’s the same playbook: bury your head in the sand, wait for a crisis, then plead with someone else to fix it.

The NCAA had decades to prepare for this moment. It squandered them all. And now, instead of leading, it’s asking mom and dad (Congress) to step in and clean up the mess.

We Don’t Need Delay,

We Need Leadership Rather than drag this out over another decade of lawsuits, uncertainty, and fractured governance, the NCAA and its stakeholders need a comprehensive plan. One that:

• Acknowledges revenue-generating athletes as professionals.

• Preserves opportunities in non-revenue sports.

• Creates a new governance framework that includes all voices — athletes, schools, conferences, and legal experts.

I've already drafted such a plan (Part 1, Part 2)

It’s time to stop reacting. It’s time to lead.