College Athletes Secure $1.77 Billion in Revenue-Sharing Pay

A recent Associated Press article, released on October 1st, reported that NCAA Division I athletes received over $1.77 billion in revenue-sharing pay.

The over 34,000 athletes who received direct payments from the dividends of incoming athletic revenue shares were the beneficiaries of the House v. NCAA settlement that ended the "amateurism era" of college sports. With the door now open to compensate college athletes for their play, 307 of the 319 eligible schools opted into the program.

Of the schools that opted into the revenue-sharing program, it is widely believed that many of the top Power Four programs chose to spend close to their fully allotted amount, which caps at $20.5 million. The College Sports Commission redacted the exact schools that came within 5% of reaching the cap, but it is widely believed that all of the Power Four would.

The age of NIL has led to many regulations and laws passing that empower collegiate athletes, and now we get to see the parity that it can create at the organizational level.