Indiana’s two programs that generate the most profit for the athletic department are likely to be impacted by upcoming changes to the name, image and likeness rules in different ways.
The most notable prospective change fueled by a lawsuit settlement agreed to by the NCAA is expected direct payments by schools to athletes beginning in 2025.
In the first year of the settlement, it’s expected that each school can share 22% of the average Power 5 school’s revenues, which is currently projected to be significantly more than $20 million per school, per year.
And it isn’t clear yet how those funds will be allocated to individual athletes yet, with considerations like Title IX to weigh.
But it is clear that all athletes in the football in men’s basketball will be operating from a new baseline of payments coming next year.
It certainly seems like that will be helpful to IU football, as recruiting and transfer targets will know there is a meaningful floor to what they can expect to receive financially. In theory at least, that would seem to make a player’s decision on which school to attend less about money, although that will now always be a factor prospectively.
IU coach Curt Cignetti doesn’t care where the money comes from. He just knows if Indiana has some to offer, that’s a good thing.
“Whether it’s NIL or revenue sharing, it’s money,” Cignetti said. “A dollar equals one or 10 equals 10.”
“I’m confident it’ll have a positive impact,” Cignetti said. “I think those (allocation to athlete) percentages will probably be determined at the conference level.”
The settlement also eliminates NCAA scholarship caps to open the door to more opportunities for Division I athletes across every sport. That variable has Cignetti’s attention, along with the financial strain to be felt by athletic departments as they redirect funds from operations to athletes.
“The big issues out there right now, I think, are roster sizes,” Cignetti said. “This was a settlement out of a court case that makes it illegal to have a scholarship minimum. So now, what’s the roster size going to be, because that’ll affect the game. And like you said, it’s a pretty good chunk of change going to the student athletes, and athletic departments across the country will have to absorb it.”
Meanwhile IU basketball currently sits in a position of strength when it comes to raising money on their own for name, image and likeness purposes. That became more clear than ever when the Hoosiers signed one of the top transfer classes in the nation this spring.
For Mike Woodson and the basketball program, revenue sharing payments across college sports might work against them, as the playing field is leveled a bit. Ostensibly it’s the same phenomenon that should give the football program a lift, in reverse.
But Woodson still sees the new payments and the incremental funds they’ll provide athletes as a net positive.
“It’s gonna help. I think any time you got additional money that goes towards recruiting, it’s going to help,” Woodson said last month at Huber Winery. “We’re in different times now, man. This summer was a busy summer for me and my staff, in terms of entertaining the portal, and it’s just a lot of work, man, and it’s not going to change. It’s going to be that way for years to come. It’s what it is.”
Nothing is set in stone at this point when it comes to how revenue will be shared. As Cignetti suggested, most of those decisions are being ironed out that conference level.
But programs know change is the new normal. And they’re staying as nimble as ever.
“We’re marching on right now, kind of like we were three weeks ago,” Cignetti said. “We anticipated this, and when a decision’s made we’ll adjust.”
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