House vs. NCAA settlement: Gonzaga, Big East and billable hours the biggest winners (fans, bloat, Olympic sports among the losers)

There was no immediate reaction from Gonzaga following court approval of the landmark House vs NCAA lawsuit settlement on Friday evening No announcement on the Bulldogs website Nothing from athletic director Chris Standiford or basketball coach Mark Sparse on social media Nothing but radio silence in Spokane where it appears victors don t gloat That s right folks The Zags stand to become one of the biggest winners in the post-House world where schools can share revenue with athletes starting July And they aren t alone Any school that values basketball and doesn t compete in or care about football could create for itself a substantial advantage in the talent-acquisition process Allow us to explain The revenue-sharing component features a cap of million in the - competition year with annual increases expected The power conference schools will undoubtedly max out in order to avoid blowback in recruiting but there s no requirement to do so Each athletic department will determine how to allocate the money but the generally-accepted breakdown in the ACC Big Big Ten and SEC will impact in about million devoted to football rosters roughly million to men s basketball and the rest to Olympic sports Schools with rich basketball traditions UCLA Arizona Kansas Kentucky North Carolina and Duke could exceed the average within the Power Four and share million-to- million with their basketball players giving them an edge relative to intra-conference peers that prioritize football But schools without football don t have to feed the beast Gonzaga could plow as much as it wants into men s basketball million million whatever as long as it doesn t exceed the cap and makes the requisite commitment to Olympic sports It s no different for the Big East Whatever cash they muster can be earmarked for basketball Connecticut plays football but likely will prioritize basketball to the greatest extent realizable What s more the Zags can make use of third-party support to supplement their revenue sharing The House settlement does not prohibit NIL Instead it attempts to eliminate pay-for-play funded by booster collectives and introduce a legitimate mechanism for compensating athletes for legitimate business opportunities The ACC Big Ten Big SEC and Pac- the five named defendants in the House lawsuit have created an independent entity to track revenue sharing and enforce NIL payments It s called the College Sports Commission and will be led by Bryan Seeley a former chief investigator for Major League Baseball and assistant U S attorney Athletes are required to record their contracts to ensure authenticity If the deal is rejected athletes can adjust the terms and resubmit or seek arbitration Schools that allow athletes to compete with rejected deals could be subject to penalties assessed by the CSC Put another way The more legitimate business opportunities available for athletes the better Schools located in communities that are passionate about basketball will in theory have more avenues to compensate athletes with real NIL than schools in communities obsessed with football Combine the business opportunities in Spokane with the athletic department s ability to disproportionately compensate its basketball company as compared to the football-playing schools and the Zags are extraordinarily well-positioned for the next era In the post-House world it pays to not pay the football beast Other winners and losers from the lawsuit settlement Loser The fans Anything that increases expenses for athletic departments results in a greater burden placed on fans Not only will direct donations be needed like never before but constituents in the local business communities will be under pressure to provide NIL opportunities as well Winner Ed O Bannon The former UCLA basketball star started this decade-long economic transformation when he took the NCAA and EA Sports to court over the use of his likeness and image in a video contest His profitable lawsuit led to NIL which led to revenue sharing Loser Administrative bloat The budgetary pressures caused by million in sportsman compensation will cause schools to redirect all available cash That could lead to staff downsizing and the elimination of mid-level managerial positions so pervasive in major college athletics Expect to see fewer deputy senior assistant athletic directors for changing the water cooler Winner Power Four bifurcation It might take several years to determine the full implications of revenue sharing but this much is instantly obvious Schools with the deepest pockets and greatest commitment to winning will have an advantage And those factors are absolutely not distributed equally throughout the power conferences By the turn of the decade it could be clear which schools covet the creation of a super league and which schools will be content downsizing their football programs Related Articles House vs NCAA lawsuit settlement approved A momentous step for college sports that won t end the chaos West Coast recruiting roundup Hot starts for Stanford Cal and Boise State Mailbag Comparing the new Pac- to the Big and ACC the UNLV and Texas State scenarios media deal timeline and loads more College Football Playoff debate Pac- commissioner Teresa Gould on format options the path forward and outdated metrics College Football Playoff conflict Why Big commissioner supports model that may harm his conference s chances Loser College Sports Commission The NIL enforcement entity is rooted in best intentions Schools in the power conferences are passionate about eliminating fake NIL i e pay-for-play and implementing true NIL payments for legitimate business endeavors But the Hotline is skeptical that NIL Go the instrument platform created to evaluate reasonable compensation for all NIL deals of or more will stand up in court Only the industry can determine fair arena value Winner billable hours Jeffrey Kessler and Steve Berman the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs are expected to share million in legal fees And according to the Associated Press they requested an additional million over the -year payout period for the damages portion of the settlement Kessler and Berman won t have to sue the NCAA ever again although they might Loser Olympic sports At the very least schools will create tiers for their Olympic sports with particular receiving more support for revenue sharing and staff salaries than others For example the Big Ten likely will prioritize volleyball while the SEC will make sure softball is well funded At worst low-priority programs will be turned into club sports or eliminated altogether Winner Claudia Wilken The -year-old U S District Court Judge for Northern California will be remembered as the person who changed college sports forever Wilken who ruled in favor of Ed O Bannon a decade ago holds degrees from Stanford and Cal two universities whose academic and athletic missions traditionally have stood in stark contrast to the revolution Wilken orchestrated Loser NCAA vs Oklahoma Board of Regents The development which went to the Supreme Court created the realignment era by allowing individual conferences to control their media rights instead of the NCAA For four decades it stood as the the bulk notable event in college sports history As of Friday night it has company Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline