Notre Dame Begs Congress To 'Save' College Football After Massive $2.8B Settlement
The sport of college football changed in the most dramatic of ways recently, when a massive, $2.8 billion settlement paved the way for players to be paid by their schools.
That money will be paid out retroactively to players who sued the NCAA for not receiving name, image and likeness compensation. But it also created a model for schools to engage in revenue sharing distributions to players; up to $22 million per year. Assuming the agreement is approved by a judge, it represents a mammoth shift in college athletics that will essentially make them paid employees.
And the University of Notre Dame isn't happy about it.
University president Rev. John Jenkins, C.S.C issued a statement after the settlement was reached decrying the revenue sharing plan and what it means for the sport of college football. According to Jenkins and the school, it threatens the "great American institution of college sports."
"The settlement, though undesirable in many respects and promising only temporary stability, is necessary to avoid what would be the bankruptcy of college athletics," the statement reads. "To save the great American institution of college sports, Congress must pass legislation that will preempt the current patchwork of state laws; establish that our athletes are not employees, but students seeking college degrees; and provide protection from further anti-trust lawsuits that will allow colleges to make and enforce rules that will protect our student-athletes and help ensure competitive equity among our teams."
Rev. John Jenkins , right, claps as the family of Dan Devine unveil the sculpture during the unveiling ceremony for the new Dan Devine sculpture outside Gate A at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday, October 7, 2011. (Photo: Robert Franklin / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Does Notre Dame Have A Point About College Football?
The school is inarguably correct that the settlement will change the college football landscape forever. And it will certainly change how the schools are forced to approach other college sports. Not to mention potentially widening the gap between bigger and smaller athletic programs.
But there would be no college sports without the players, and the billions of revenue that the NCAA and Notre Dame have enjoyed wouldn't be possible without the players. Yet for decades, the only people not being compensated were, in fact, the players.
Schools find ways to employ students, and pay them for their work, in any number of other areas. College football generates plenty of revenue to give athletes money, as evidenced by the exorbitant salaries coaches are receiving.
USC, for example, paid nearly $29 million to Clay Helton, Lincoln Riley and Alex Grinch in the 2023 season. And only one of those coaches finished out the season with the Trojans.
READ: Lincoln Riley’s Compensation Details At USC Revealed
Notre Dame may not like it, and it may require adjustment to how the student-athlete model works going forward. But these issues can be figured out, and must be figured out. Because the system as it's functioned for decades was also broken, and far from "great."
In the past, administrators like Jenkins, coaches, and athletic department officials benefited financially. They're going to have to get used to players benefiting too.