Back Damages

Back damages are the roughly $2.8 billion the NCAA and its conferences agreed to pay former athletes as compensation for NIL and revenue-sharing earnings they were denied under old rules. Payments go to Division I athletes who competed from 2016 onward and are distributed over a ten-year period.

Q. Who is in the settlement class?

Division I athletes who competed from 2016 onward. Distribution is weighted, with the largest shares going to football and men’s basketball athletes at power-conference schools, reflecting the revenue they generated.

Q. Where does the money come from?

The NCAA and the defendant conferences, funded substantially through reductions in NCAA distributions to member schools, which means schools that were not defendants still bear part of the cost.

Q. How long do payments take?

Ten years, running alongside the settlement’s forward-looking provisions.

Q. Is this separate from revenue sharing?

Yes, and the two are frequently confused. Back damages compensate for the past. Revenue sharing is the ongoing forward-looking system.