Rev Share, Opt In, Opt Out, Opt Down?
Covering what opting in, opting out will do. and MAYBE opting down.
Foreward:
On April 7th, 2025 in a court across the country from one of the many conferences that would be effected, the NCAA, former players lawyers including the lawyer of Grant House gathered infront of Judge Claudia Wilkins and set forth the steps to change college athletics forever with the “House Settlement".
As apart of the House Settlement, comes Revenue Sharing, Roster Limits, The Elimination of Walk Ons, and likely for many schools, the elimination of some Olympic Sports/Non Revenue Producing Sports.
and sadly for some the END of their D1 era and maybe even athletic eras.
What is this House Settlement?:
Once the floodgates opened with the Supreme Court decision to allow players to cash in on their own Name Image and Likeness rights. Past players and athletes, were obviously very angry, and led by former Arizona State swimmer Grant House they have now sued to
ONE: Get their back pay and TWO: Make sure players get paid NOW.
This led to the NCAA “House Settlement” which in short creates the path way for schools to PAY PLAYERS directly with TV Revenue, Ticket Revenue and around 50% of ALL Athletic Revenue.
Along with former from 2016 onward recieving BACK PAY for missed NIL with 75% going to Football, 20% to Basketball and 5% going to all other sports.
Along with the rev share will come ROSTER LIMITS, no longer the area of scholarship and walk-on players, you get 105 players in football, 34 in baseball, 15 in basketball, so on and so forth.
And the final major part of this settlement, if you opt in, any NIL deal over $600 will need to be approved by a clearinghouse for “Fair Market Value”
(This has not been approved yet, but likely will be approved)
So, who has Opted IN for The Big South?:
Well on April 8th:
4 Big South schools opted in: High Point, Longwood, Radford and Winthrop.
Leaving 5 Opt Outs: Charleston Southern, Gardner Webb, Presbyterian, UNC Asheville and USC Upstate.
The only shocker for me was, UNC Asheville but this COULD make sense because of loss of revenue thanks to Hurricane Helene along with the other costs of keeping a campus open during those times.
Opted In vs Non Opt In:
Opt In:
Pay players directly through the school
New scholarship requirements
Back Pay to former athletes
Deals OVER $600 have to be cleared by NCAA Clearinghouse
Non Opt In:
Players are paid via collective, boosters, or businesses
No new scholarships/roster limits
No back pay to former athletes
No restriction on NIL deals over $600
What will the “fallout” be?:
I wish I could give a definitive answer, but I just can’t, this is uncharted waters for every school and probably every person covering sports in general but I’ll give my BEST CASE, WORST CASE, and MY LIKELY CASE:
Best Case:
Nothing much changes, the rev share schools and non rev share schools keep up with each other or the Non Rev Share schools eventually opt in and catch up to the current Rev Share schools.
No need to add new schools and everyone just enjoys their time, winning, and hopefully titles.
Worst Case:
The case I, and probably everyone don’t want.
(except for HM’s and Charlie Baker want clearly).
The Big South joins likely The WAC, The Great West Conference with no longer being around, or at least at the D1 level.
Out of the 5 “Opt Out” program, only 1 (UNC Asheville) turns a consistent profit from their FRS Reports. USC Upstate which is the only other public FRS school already operates sports at a loss.
I could see a world where High Point jumps to another conference, along with USC Upstate, Presbyterian, Charleston Southern, and Gardner Webb all or some droping out of D1 athletics, or jump to maybe a full Non Rev Share conference.
My Likely Case:
Good News: I think the Big South Conference will survive, unlike some conferences.
Bad News: I think we may lose a school, or two, or MAYBE three, and will lose some non revenue generating sports.
I think eventually, CSU, PC, and or GWU could drop football or move to a different conference/move down to D2. If they drop football to either PFL or drop the sports in it’s entirety, I think they would LIKELY stay in the Big South.
(Charleston Southern, Gardner Webb and Presbyterian have since confirmed their intentions to stay D1)
Another option if certain schools leave, there are solid D2 schools in the area, like Augusta (former Big South member), Lincoln Memorial, Georgia College and State University among others, also the Big South could pivot to Non Football SoCon schools along with some CAA schools and maybe MEAC schools.
Another option that isn’t just limited to Opt Out schools, I think many schools could follow Cal Poly’s lead and cut some non revenue generating sports like Swim and Dive.