House v. NCAA settlement has been placed on hold due to roster limits

Apr 19, 2025; Fort Worth, TX, USA; A view of the NCAA logo and trophy before the 2025 Women's National Gymnastics Championship at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Big changes are coming to college athletics as soon as the House v. NCAA settlement is passed by Judge Claudia Wilken. We all know that some guardrails are desperately needed. Those in administration roles within the NCAA believe this settlement will give them those needed guardrails.

But some changes are still needed to the settlement. Judge Wilken has a problem with the roster limits.

NEWS: Judge Claudia Wilken issued an order related to the House settlement today, giving attorneys 14 days to phase in or/and grandfather in roster limits or she will *deny* the House settlement. pic.twitter.com/zt75OzQrfb
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 23, 2025

[House v. NCAA Cheat Sheet: What you need to know about the college sports settlement]

In an order released on Wednesday, Judge Wilken went on record to state that she will not pass this settlement unless some tweaks are made to roster limits. The judge would like for this change to be grandfathered-in allowing athletes on current rosters to not lose their scholarship or spot on their team. The NCAA — and their attorneys — have 14 days to respond.

“We are closely reviewing Judge Wilken’s order,” the NCAA said in a release. “Our focus continues to be on securing approval of this significant agreement, which aims to create more opportunities than ever before for student-athletes while fostering much-needed stability and fairness in college sports.”

This settlement would provide former athletes with $2.8 billion in back-pay for lost name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights. It would also bring revenue-sharing to college athletics where school could be allowed to pay players directly.

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A big part of the settlement for the NCAA included setting roster limits for all sports. This would essentially eliminate walk-ons. From a football lens, schools could have up to 105 scholarship players but each conference can do what they want as long as they don’t exceed the number (the SEC plans to stay at 85 scholarships). However, this would force some athletes to be cut. Judge Wilken does not want to see that.

This is the biggest change that will occur on the settlement. We could see some inflated rosters over the next three seasons. The proposed rosters include football (105), basketball (15), baseball (34), soccer (28), softball (25), and volleyball (18). Perhaps walk-ons could be sticking around.

The NCAA and its members were planning to ease some of the financial burden of revenue-sharing by setting roster limits. That has now changed. The NCAA will need an altered plan to get this settlement passed but they have no other choice at this juncture.