On July 1, 2025, college athletics will officially enter a new era with the passing of the landmark
House v. NCAA settlement.
In brief, a federal court approved the final settlement of a pending lawsuit called House v. NCAA on June 6, 2025, and the settlement goes into effect on July 1, 2025.
House is a collection of antitrust cases in which former student-athletes sued the NCAA and Power 4 conferences – the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, and SEC (“the P4”). Settlement of the
House case will impact St. Joe’s Athletics in three primary ways:
Money Damages
Although Saint Joseph’s and other non-P4 schools were not sued, the NCAA and the P4 are requiring all NCAA Division I member institutions to contribute to the agreed-upon $2.8 billion in money damages being paid to former student-athletes over the next 10 years as part of the
House settlement. The money damages will result in a loss of revenue normally received by St. Joe’s Athletics from the NCAA as part of its annual revenue distribution plan.
Roster Limits
Pursuant to the
House settlement and effective July 1, current limits on the number of athletic scholarships that Division I institutions can provide to each team will be replaced by roster limits. The final settlement offers some protection to current and incoming student-athletes whose roster spots were at risk through a concept called “designated student-athletes.” These designated student-athletes can exceed the new roster limit at St. Joe’s or at any other institution to which they may transfer for the duration of their athletics eligibility.
Direct Institutional Payments to Student-Athletes
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the
House settlement is that Division I institutions may now provide “additional benefits” directly to student-athletes – in a maximum amount for all sports up to $20.5 million per year. While the P4 institutions are bound by this new rule, non-P4 institutions like St. Joe’s must decide by June 30 whether to “opt in” to this concept. As
previously announced, St. Joe’s will opt-in to provide additional benefits to men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes.
