With first appeal to House v. NCAA settlement, back damages put on pause

With Judge Claudia Wilken’s decision last week to approve the House v. NCAA settlement terms in the U.S. Northern District of California, a new age is being ushered into college athletics. Institutions are set to begin paying athletes directly on July 1.

But the back-damage payments to athletes, roughly $2.5 billion, have hit a snag. The first back-damage payments to former athletes from 2016 to 2024 have hit pause following a Title IX appeal filed on Wednesday. Notable athletes who will collect back damages in this class include names like Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield and Zion Williamson.

Led by a group of eight female athletes, the Title IX appeal challenges the legality of the more than $2 billion in back damages set to be distributed to current and former athletes who did not participate in NIL. The appeal argues that female athletes are being deprived of $1.1 billion.

Ninety percent of that back-damage cash is set to be paid out to football and men’s basketball athletes. Football and men’s basketball players have historically generated the most TV revenue for conferences and starred in college sports video games. Because of that, athletes in those sports are set to reap the most benefits in those two categories in back damages.

According to court documents, football and men’s basketball players will make approximately $91,000 in broadcast NIL. The range for those athletes is $15,000 to $280,000. Players with the most lost opportunities also stand to make up to $800,000.

Those payments will now be put on pause until the appeal is resolved, and it’s expected to be just the first in a long line of legal challenges brought against the settlement. The first back-damage payment was set to be due within 45 days of the settlement’s finalization – or Monday, July 21.

NCAA president Charlie Baker told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday that the governing body has $285 million sitting in escrow awaiting the court’s permission to distribute. Instead of facing $20 billion in back damages, the NCAA and Power 5 conferences signed off on the 10-year House settlement agreement.

The NCAA is responsible for paying the amount over the next decade, $277 million annually. Roughly 60% will come from a reduction in distribution to institutions. The NCAA is tasked with closing the other 40%, which will come through reducing operating expenses.