University of Cincinnati Athletics can pay student-athletes directly beginning July 1, thanks to a recently approved settlement that will allow colleges to share up to $20.5 million with athletes annually.
To stay competitive, UC says it's getting the ball rolling right away and plans to spend as much as it's allowed.
In April, the athletic department and the University of Cincinnati Foundation, a private funding organization for the university and UC Health, launched the Athletics Impact Fund, which will utilize donations to support the recruitment, retention, and compensation of student-athletes.
UC Athletic Director John Cunningham says as soon as next month, Bearcats will begin signing name, image, and likeness (NIL) contracts with the athletic department, while still receiving scholarships and maintaining the ability to sign third-party NIL deals.
"These contracts will be coming soon, and they'll be transitioning out of contracts with collectives into contracts with institutions," Cunningham told WVXU.
Since 2021, college athletes nationwide have been permitted to sign NIL deals with outside collectives, companies, and brands. Students couldn't officially receive money from their schools until last week, when a federal judge approved a class action settlement involving the NCAA and former college athletes.
Along with allowing payments to current players, the settlement lets athletes who ended their collegiate careers before 2021 access a share of $2.7 billion in settlement funds.
Cunningham, who is also a member of the NCAA's Settlement Implementation Committee, a group of 10 athletic directors and their legal teams charged with overseeing the distribution process, is optimistic about how the settlement will affect UC and college sports in general. Schools will utilize a new software called NIL Go to track and manage agreements.
"I'm just hopeful that with some of these changes we can really protect these sports, protect the institutions, protect the student athlete experience," he said.
UC Athletics hasn't shared exactly how it will divide the $20.5 million it intends to spend from its Impact Fund. Most schools in the major athletic conferences are expected to allocate most of that money for football, and men's and women's basketball. Still, whether schools will be allowed to spend most of their money on specific athletes and sports is subject to change.
In January, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) under the Biden administration issued guidance stating NIL payments from schools are considered financial aid, and institutions would be violating Title IX if the money isn't split proportionately between men's and women's athletics.
Shortly after President Trump took office, the OCR rescinded that guidance, claiming it lacked a "credible legal justification."
On Wednesday, eight female athletes filed an appeal, contesting that the settlement's current structure would not fairly compensate women in college sports.
Back pay for former college athletes will be paid out over the next 10 years, according to the NCAA's settlement agreement. In that time, the revenue-sharing cap for schools will be raised by 4% annually, adding approximately $1 million to the cap after this initial year.
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