By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
In an order issued on Wednesday, Judge Claudia Wilken announced she will not approve the historic House vs. NCAA settlement unless changes are made to the proposed roster limits, which would replace scholarship limits should the settlement be approved. Judge Wilken has given attorneys 14 days to adjust the settlement’s language to include a “grandfathering” clause to roster limits that would protect athletes already on a school’s roster.
“The Court will delay denial of final approval to permit the parties to attempt to modify the settlement agreement,” Wilken wrote, “so that members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class will not be harmed by the immediate implementation of the roster limits provision.”
Wilken’s order stands to throw the NCAA into even further chaos as it navigates this settlement, which, if approved, will transform college athletics and send $2.8 billion in backpay to current and former student-athletes. In preparation for the settlement’s final approval, conferences and universities have pre-emptively set roster limits and begun enforcing them, causing current students to lose their roster spots and committed athletes to have their offers revoked.
The roster-limit concept has been one of the biggest sticking points during the settlement process. During the final approval hearing for the settlement on April 7, many of the objectors spoke against roster limits. It was one of the two biggest issues Wilken had with the settlement during that hearing—the other being the fact that the 10-year term on the agreement was making decisions on behalf of future college athletes who had no voice in the process.
Wilken did not grant final approval at the end of that hearing, instead giving parties a week to revise the language surrounding the two primary issues she had with the settlement. Nevertheless, in last Monday’s filing, the defendants as well as the plaintiffs’ lawyers did not make any changes to the roster limits clauses in the settlement.
Wilken’s order makes it clear she was unmoved by these arguments, stating that immediately implementing roster limits “will result in harm to a significant number of athletes” including those who were recently cut because of the “premature implementation” of the settlement.
“The Court finds that the decision by Defendants and NCAA member schools to begin implementing the roster limits before the Court granted final approval of the settlement agreement is not a valid reason for approval of the agreement in its current form…any disruption that may occur is a problem of defendants’ and NCAA member schools’ own making,” she wrote.
If the parties are unable to arrive at language that satisfies Judge Wilken, causing her to not grant final approval, the settlement would go to trial. The NCAA and power conferences stated after Wilken’s order their focus “continues to be on securing approval of this significant agreement,” while Steve Berman, the co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs stated “we will work hard to convince the NCAA and the conferences to address the court’s concerns. If we are unable to do so, then we are off to trial and we will return to fighting the NCAA in court with next steps.”
Wilken not granting final approval would send the NCAA into even further instability as roster limits are far from the only thing the NCAA and conferences moved on in anticipation of the settlement being approved. The league and power conferences also hammered out revenue-sharing deals, expecting to begin paying upwards of $20 million to their athletes annually beginning July 1, 2025.
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