The NCAA's Game-Changing Decision. Is it a step forward?

This is a very big deal...not only for athletes competing in college sports , but for the future of college sports itself. The decision awards Division I athletes who competed since 2016 in any of the power 5 conference teams (Big Ten, SEC, PAC-12, Big 12 and ACC) a total of $2.7 billion over the next 10 years and a revenue sharing up to roughly $20 million per year. The main purpose of this agreement was to avoid any future potential antitrust violations, and to drop three open cases: House v NCA, Hubbard vs NCAA and Carter vs NCAA.

This sets a new standard for how athletes are treated and paid in the future, but does it really make college sports better for everyone? There are still many questions to be answered on how the future of the college sports landscape will look like. How will athletes get paid? What will happen with athletic scholarships? How different will each sport be treated? Why can Division II, III, NAIA and NJCAA athletes be paid as well?

In my view, the NCAA as an organization will be compared to the NBA, NFL and other professional organizations. It will lose the essence of college sports: Student-Athletes competing for pride representing their institution. Discussions will shift from the best college teams or athletes, to how much each athlete is getting paid or deserves to get paid. The word "Amateurism" will disappear from the college vocabulary, just like it happened in the Olympics many years ago. I guess this was unavoidable and was going to happen sooner o later.

In our business in college recruiting, it will be a game changer. More athletes around the world will want to compete in college USA, as it might mean an even better compensation than professional sports (at the lower level) on top of getting a great education. We might now rather than aiming at scholarship offers for our students, will aim for high salaries or signing bonus offers. The transfer portal is already exploding, and I can imagine more student-athletes wanting to transfer looking for better pay at other college teams.

I always welcome changes, if it means a win-win-win for all parts involved. My only hope is that everyone can benefit equally and that we first and foremost protect the well-being of the students and institutions, but also the tradition of college sports.

We will sit back and observe what happens. In the mean time, we will continue working hard on getting our students to the best possible colleges for their education and future success.

Thomas E. Anderson

CEO and Founder USP