Latest news with #BigTenRivalrySeries
14 hours ago
- Business
PayPal partners with Big Ten, Big 12 to pay college athletes directly
In a major shift for college sports payments, online payment services company PayPal said Thursday it's partnering with two major college athletic conferences to help distribute money directly to student athletes. The multi-year agreements with the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences will create a new system for paying college athletes through PayPal and its sister service Venmo, following a recent federal court decision that allows universities to share revenue directly with players, PayPal said in a release. The new system will launch this summer, the company said, letting universities send payments straight to athletes' PayPal or Venmo accounts. This marks a significant shift from the current system of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) deals, which often involve third-party collectives managing payments to players. "Venmo is ubiquitous on college campuses. There's 19 million college students, and over half have a Venmo account," PayPal CEO Alex Chriss told ABC News on Thursday. "This is the natural landing place for these revenue shares." Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark emphasized the importance of having a reliable payment system. "Starting July 1, we can pay student athletes directly from our institutions," Yormark told ABC News. "We need a reliable, very secure payment platform in which we could distribute money to our student athletes." The companies said the partnership goes beyond just payments. Venmo's release noted that it will become deeply involved in college sports, serving as the presenting partner for the first-ever Big Ten Rivalry Series and partnering with the Big 12 Conference across football, basketball and Olympic sports championships. Addressing concerns about young athletes handling large sums of money, Yormark revealed plans for financial education. "We are going to engage with a very meaningful financial literacy program with Alex and his team," he said. "Educating student athletes on their finances is critically important and will be at the core of this partnership." The system is designed to protect athletes, Chriss noted. "The money goes directly to the athlete's wallets, to their Venmo account," he said. "There's no intermediary, there's no one else getting the money first." According to the announcement, the initiative will expand beyond athletics. PayPal will become a preferred payment partner for tuition at select schools, and Venmo will enable payments for campus expenses like bookstore purchases, event tickets and concessions. The company said the full program is expected to roll out during the 2025-2026 school year.
CNBC
19 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
PayPal teams up with the Big Ten and Big 12 to enable payments to student-athletes
Global payment company PayPal announced on Thursday that it has inked a deal with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences to allow student-athletes to receive compensation through the fintech company's platform. The announcement comes just weeks after a court settlement in the House v. NCAA case, which dramatically shifts the college sports landscape by allowing schools to compensate student-athletes for the first time. The settlement allows individual schools to distribute up to $20.5 million to current athletes over the next year, and provides up to $2.8 billion in compensation to former players across the NCAA. The new agreement will allow Big Ten and Big 12 athletic departments to dispense these payments using PayPal exclusively. PayPal said the initial rollout is expected to begin this summer. The House settlement takes effect on July 1. The deal will allow students at Big Ten and Big 12 universities to receive their compensation quickly and securely, PayPal said. The company added students will also have the option to pay their college tuition via PayPal, which will become a preferred payment partner at select schools. "We're proud to help lead this transformation in college athletics by making it easier and fasterfor student-athletes to get paid and continue to bring trusted and innovative commerce solutions to the heart of campus life," PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss said in a statement. PayPal's mobile payment service Venmo is also expanding its position in college sports. Venmo will be the presenting partner for the first-ever Big Ten Rivalry Series and will serve as the official partner of the Big 12 Conference. The company is also working with Big Ten and Big 12 schools to allow students to use Venmo at college bookstores and for campus athletics for items such as tickets, concessions and merchandise. The Big Ten Conference expanded to 18 schools last August includes the University of Maryland, Penn State University, University of Michigan and the Ohio State University. The Big 12 Conference includes 16 schools such as Arizona State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Houston.
