Dear Season Ticket Holders,
I have been writing you frequently about the uncertain legal and regulatory matters around student-athlete compensation and benefits. In early April, I shared that one possible outcome of the legal challenges could be institutions compensating students directly for their athletic services and for use of their name, image and likeness, as opposed to only third parties.
While serious questions of labor law remain, the NCAA and the major conferences have reached a proposed settlement (pending court approval) in three major legal cases involving back damages and future compensation for Division I student-athletes. The media has covered the proposed settlement extensively, so you can read more about the settlement from various sources. In my view, the settlement will lead to the most fundamental and transformational change in college sports history.
As early as Fall 2025, the major parts of the agreement propose the following:
Total back damages for these cases paid for former student-athletes of approximately $2.78 billion, to be paid over 10 years.
Going forward, NCAA and conference rules will permit direct payments to student-athletes up to amounts set by injunctive settlement. The settlement allows institutions to make payments to student-athletes up to a capped amount (currently about $20 million per school) and will be re-evaluated every few years.
Total team scholarship limits would be eliminated. For example, currently men’s basketball is limited to 13 players on scholarship, women’s basketball 15. These limits will be removed.
As you can imagine, the nuance and complexity of these issues prevent me from describing them fully in any letter or one communication, but I wanted to provide you with the basic information.
If the court approves, our ability to adapt to this new environment, especially direct payment to student-athletes, will shape our ability to retain and recruit future players. At the “Power Conference” level (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12) a substantial portion of the money that will be used to compensate players is generated through lucrative media contracts with broadcasters that is dramatically different from our media revenue.
Over the coming months, it is imperative we find creative revenue solutions to adapt to the new realities of college sports in 2025 with aggressiveness, or we will fall behind in a hypercompetitive environment. Our fan base and community support give us a great opportunity to find long-term sustainable solutions.
Dayton 6th Meet and Greet and other third parties
As we prepare for this dramatically new environment (likely 2025-26), please know that as of this writing, the University of Dayton may not pay students directly or indirectly. As a result, the NIL compensation students receive is entirely reliant on third parties like you, Dayton 6th, corporations, organizations, and individual contributors.
As this environment evolves, our only option right now is to visit Dayton 6th website or support other third parties to learn all the various ways you can support player
retention and recruitment. Dayton 6th is hosting the first opportunity for the Flyer Faithful to welcome members of the 2024-2025 Dayton Basketball Team on June 17. Please visit Dayton 6th for details.
As always, we thank you for your loyal support of Dayton athletics and know that you expect first-class, competitive programs that represent our University, our city and our community in the best possible way. Together, that is what we expect to continue delivering.
Go Flyers!
Neil Sullivan
Vice President and Director of Athletics
dayton.rivals.com
