By SUSAN JONES

The long-awaited settlement in the House v. NCAA case — which will allow universities to pay student-athletes, past and present — was issued on June 6, but it’s not clear yet what that will mean at Pitt.

The settlement will allow colleges to pay current players directly for use of their name, image and likeness starting July 1, with a cap of $20.5 million per school for the 2025-26 academic year. Student-athletes also can still negotiate external NIL deals under the settlement, but would have to report any third-party compensation greater than $600.

It also includes $2.8 billion to pay past players who missed out on earning money from NIL deals between 2016 and 2024. The money will be paid over 10 years, mostly by the NCAA from its reserves and the rest from the Division I conferences and schools. (For more details, see the University Times’ May 16 story.)

Division I schools, like Pitt, have many decision ahead. Some will have to make drastic cuts or find millions of dollars in new funding to meet the requirements of the House settlement.

Pitt Athletic Director Allen Greene said in a statement on the Pitt Athletics website: “One thing will not change: Pitt’s unwavering commitment to winning championships and helping our student-athletes compete at the highest levels in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and nationally.

“Fully committed to our championship future, University of Pittsburgh leadership has long been engaged in planning for the onset of the revenue-sharing era. That foresight has Pitt strongly positioned for the 2025-26 year of competition and beyond.”

He did not release any details of how that revenue sharing would work at Pitt, but did note that, “Even with this courtroom decision, the future of college athletics remains ever-changing. We can and should expect more shifts in the coming months and years.”

One change came quickly. On June 9, the power conferences — ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC — hired Bryan Seeley, a high-ranking executive at Major League Baseball and former assistant U.S. attorney, to lead the newly formed College Sports Commission. The commission, which is set to be up and running by July 1, will oversee rules related to schools’ revenue-sharing systems with NCAA Division I athletics and external NIL deals.

Geovette Washington, Pitt’s chief legal officer, said at the June 11 town hall that, “While the settlement has been in the works for over a year, and offices across the University have been planning for its implementation, the details of exactly how this is going to work out will unfold over the next several weeks and months. We are continuing to work closely with our University partners and to ensure that implementation goes smoothly.”

Dwayne Pinkney, Pitt’s chief financial officer, said at the town hall that “from the CFO perspective, I think about expense increase,” particularly in light of the University’s recent efforts to limit spending and hiring. “I think about how we as an institution accommodate that. I would say that we are not an outlier. As I talk to my colleagues, whether in the ACC or AAU institution’s, there are a number of forums and consortia where we’re all talking about the same things.

“We know that there is an amount, the $20.5 million. We are working with our colleagues in athletics to understand the specific challenges that they’ll face, that we will face as an institution, and we’re planning holistically around the expense increase for FY26.”

It’s unclear how the money will be distributed to current athletes at each school. CBS Sports reported that most schools are expected to mirror the back-payment formula outlined for former student-athletes. That means roughly 75% of future revenue will be shared with football players, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball and 5% to all remaining sports.

The settlement also sets roster limits for each sport, instead of scholarship limits. To answer concerns from current athletes that they would lose their position before graduating, the parties agreed that schools have the option to keep current players on their rosters and temporarily exceed new limits until their eligibility expires.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

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