This move comes after decades of criticism over players not being paid and incremental advancements in those critics’ cause.
Topline
The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s president proposed a new tier of Division I sports for the schools with the most resourced athletic departments Tuesday, in which students can be paid directly through a trust fund, have name, image and likeness deals directly with their schools and receive unlimited educational benefits—a move that could mark a major shift for college sports and acknowledges one of its biggest criticisms.Key Facts
If this proposal is implemented, Division I schools would be able to choose whether to opt into the new tier, but even Division I schools outside the new tier would be allowed to provide their students with unlimited educational benefits (education-related cash benefits are currently limited) and strike name, image and likeness deals with their students.
This proposed system would require schools in the higher tier to devote at least $30,000 per athlete every year for at least half of their athletes and put it this “enhanced educational trust fund” that would officially be designed to pay for athletes to pursue further education during the summer or following their careers, but the NCAA hasn’t set any spending requirements, ESPN reported.
NCAA President Charlie Baker outlined this proposal in a letter sent to over 350 colleges and universities, in which he wrote that the current state of college sports is creating disparities between the wealthiest athletic programs and the rest of the field as well as between male and female athletes.
