Latest news with #revenuesharing
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Every Division I School's Revenue-Sharing Decision for 2025-26
The House settlement approved in June will transform college sports immediately. Starting in 2025-26, schools will be permitted to directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million annually in revenue-sharing. Not all schools, however, are jumping into the new landscape. On Tuesday, the College Sports Commission released a list of schools that opted in to sharing revenue with athletes. Division I schools had to decide by June 30, and although 310 athletic departments opted in, 54 chose not to. More from Ex-Penn State Trustee, Who Sued to See Elevate Deal, Still Has 'Concerns' NCAA Scores Major Antitrust Win as Eligibility Rules Upheld Fanatics Accused of Conspiring With Leagues, Unions on High Card Prices To no surprise, all schools in power conferences—the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC—are participating. Other leagues with complete participation: the American, Atlantic 10, Big East, C-USA, CAA, Horizon, MAC, Missouri Valley, Southwestern, Sun Belt, WAC and West Coast conferences. Every FBS school opted in aside from the service academies—Army, Navy and Air Force—which are prevented from compensating athletes due to military regulations. On the other end of the spectrum, the Ivy League, which currently permits athletes to receive NIL deals but not athletic scholarships, stated in January that its eight schools would not participate in revenue-sharing. The Patriot League was the only other conference with zero members opting in. Several recent March Madness Cinderellas opted out, including UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson, the only two men's No. 16 seeds to ever defeat a No. 1 seed; they accomplished the feat in 2018 and 2023, respectively. Saint Peter's, which made an unprecedented run to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed in 2022, was also among the opt-outs. Some schools zigged where their peers zagged, such as Long Island University, which was the only Northeast Conference program to opt in. On the flip side, North Carolina Central was the only MEAC team to opt out. The University of Nebraska Omaha was the only member of the Summit League to not participate. In an online statement, the school explained that its operational and financial plans were already in place for the 2025-26, so opting into revenue-sharing 'would simply introduce new and unresolved variables at a time when clarity is critical.' The athletic department plans to opt in some time in the future. In addition to the direct financial cost of sharing revenue with athletes, another concern for participating schools is adhering to certain roster size limitations. Football teams, for instance, are capped at 105 players. University of Central Arkansas athletic director Matt Whiting said in an interview on Wednesday that potential loss of tuition money influenced the school's decision to opt out. 'Opting in would require us to reduce by a significant amount [the number] of student-athletes in our program,' Whiting said. 'That's obviously lost revenue for the university during a time where enrollment across the country is declining.' With a full-time undergraduate enrollment of 6,474, Central Arkansas is actually bigger than the majority of schools forgoing revenue-sharing. The average non-FBS opt-out has just shy of 6,000 students, whereas the average FCS or non-football D-I school that opted in has more than 7,800. Six of the 10 D-I schools with the smallest student populations chose to opt out, including Presbyterian College and Chicago State University, which had just 856 and 981 full-time undergrads last year, respectively, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. Another factor: Revenue-sharing will likely face Title IX lawsuits, given that participating schools are expected to share much more revenue with male athletes than female athletes. Schools declining to opt in avoid having to address these legal concerns. Still, most D-I schools decided that the pros outweigh the cons. Florida Gulf Coast's athletic director, for instance, cited the fact that it would lose only nine roster spots but gain flexibility for the program and opportunities for athletes. Nine Division III schools that participate in Division I in one or two sports also opted in. Johns Hopkins, which has 29 Final Four appearances in D-I men's lacrosse since 1970, will participate, along with Dallas Baptist (baseball) and Augusta (golf). The other six programs all boast D-I men's ice hockey teams: Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, and Colorado College. Best of Tennis Prize Money Tracker: Which Player Has Earned the Most in 2025? Browns Officially Get Public Money for New Stadium in Ohio Budget WNBA Franchise Valuations Ranking List: From Golden State to Atlanta
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
How can the WNBA improve? Player salaries aren't only thing it needs to fix
INDIANAPOLIS — WNBA players want to get paid, that much is obvious after an All-Star weekend that became as much about the ongoing contract negotiations as the game itself. The players are looking for higher salaries and better revenue sharing, and rightfully so. They see very little of the money that's pouring into the WNBA now from expansion fees, media rights and sponsors. Those aren't the only issues on the table, however. Here are four other problems that must be addressed for the WNBA to continue to thrive: Officiating Complaining about officiating is as much a part of sports as uniforms and scoreboards. In this case, however, the critics have a point. The W is, was and always will be a physical league. But the refs haven't kept pace with the players' speed and the strength, and it's resulted in too many games getting out of control. They've also missed calls and made the wrong ones. And for the love of God, turn reviews over to a replay center — like in the NBA. The calls and consultations this season have felt excruciatingly long and disrupted the flows of games. 'Our game is growing … and I feel like as the game grows, we need the officiating to grow with us,' Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson said. 'Sometimes that takes time, and I know they're human, they're going to make mistakes. But I think at some point we're going to have to start meeting each other at the middle. 'I mean, James Harden created a whole other look of a step back, but refs understood that and was like, `OK, this is how the game is played. It's legal. Let's try to work from there,'' Wilson said. 'We just got continue to grow together. We are getting really, really, really good at what we do, so we need them to be the same.' WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert didn't throw the refs under the bus. But she acknowledged hearing the complaints and said the league is actively working to make officiating better. 'Every play is reviewed. We spend hours and hours and hours (doing that). We use that then to follow up with officials (and) training,' she said. 'We're working hard to make sure we're putting the best product out on the court and our officiating has to follow that.' Schedule The Minnesota Lynx's schedule before the All-Star Game was a nightmare. Eleven games between June 24 and July 16, including a stretch with five games in eight days. Two sets of back-to-backs during the stretch. Four noon starts in the five games between July 9 and 16. 'When we received the schedule, we thought it was about as illogical as you can get,' Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. 'Every team has stretches for sure, but this one's illogical.' And there's more! The Golden State Valkyries begin the second half of the season with four games in seven days. The New York Liberty will play five games in eight days between July 25 and Aug. 1. The Dallas Wings have games on July 25, July 27 and July 28. You get the picture. 'The scheduling is always a Rubik's cube,' Engelbert said. But the W is also doing this to itself. The league will play 44 games this season, up from 40, yet Engelbert sounds reluctant to stray from the traditional mid-May to mid-October timeframe except in years when there are international competitions. 'I don't think there's much you can do on the front end. You can a little on the back end,' she said. 'How much college football Saturdays do you want to go into? … Then the NBA would be starting. We generally haven't overlapped with them.' The league has grown to the point that it needs to prioritize itself rather than worrying about other sports. Otherwise, it's going to drive its players into the ground. Roster expansion Making a WNBA roster can often feel like basketball's version of The Hunger Games. Even with the addition of the expansion Golden State Valkyries, there are only 156 roster spots available in the league. It's often even less, though, because many teams will only keep 11 players on their rosters due to the salary cap. Just three months after being drafted, second-round picks Madison Scott, Shyanne Sellers and Dalayah Daniels are out of the league. Alissa Pili, a first-round pick last year, was cut by the Minnesota Lynx earlier this month. These thin rosters are tough on teams, too. There was a point last month when the Dallas Wings had just eight players available. Teams were using hardship contracts the first week of the season. Though Engelbert has said in the past she'd rather increase the number of players in the league through expansion, she now sounds more open to adding roster spots. 'That is certainly on the list," she said. Transparency This isn't necessarily part of the CBA negotiations, but it needs addressing. Even if the WNBA isn't trying to hide anything, its caginess about fines and end-of-game officiating makes it look as if it is. The major men's professional leagues have realized transparency makes the game better. The NBA releases an assessment of all officiating calls over the last two minutes of any game where the lead is three points or less. The NFL, which takes paranoia to an art form, discloses how much players are fined and reasons for suspensions. They're small things, but they serve to create trust in the leagues and the people running them. Given the fan response to the players' contract demands during All-Star weekend, the WNBA can use any goodwill it can article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WNBA schedule, roster sizes and officiating also need to be addressed
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
WNBA, players' union have ‘spirited conversations' in next step toward CBA
INDIANAPOLIS — A record number of players attended Thursday's meeting between the WNBA and WNBPA as part of the next step in collective bargaining negotiations. The group of more than 40 players included union leadership, like Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, and Napheesa Collier, as well as young stars such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers. Weeks removed from receiving a counterproposal from the WNBA that frustrated players, WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson said that players 'had spirited conversations' with the league about revenue sharing, among other topics. When asked if the meeting was successful, Jackson said, 'Negotiations are hard. They have hard conversations. … That's what today was, no different from any other negotiation.' Jackson said another meeting is scheduled 'soon,' though she did not specify a date or location. Thursday's meeting lasted a couple of hours, and Jackson said that players sacrificed opportunities for paid appearances to be in attendance. 'I think we're on track to get back to meeting, and conversations that lead us to a CBA,' Jackson said. 'What we heard from the league more than once, maybe three times, was 'We hear you, we're listening.'' As players trickled out of the meeting on their way to the All-Star orange carpet, they declined to speak about the tenor of the negotiations. However, some discussed their reflections on the meeting at the All-Star weekend kickoff event. 'I think there was engagement,' Ogwumike, a star for the Seattle Storm and the president of the WNBPA, told The Athletic. 'I think there were conversations that will start to roll the ball on where we're going to head in this negotiation.' Added Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who is the first vice president of the WNBPA: 'We have a long way to go. We're gonna use this weekend to show our value and our worth and continue to be united because we do deserve more.' The league did not provide a comment regarding the meeting. The WNBPA received its first counterproposal from the league in the last week of June. Players said they submitted the first version of a proposal during the first week of February but waited months to hear a formal response, which added to the importance of Thursday's meeting, the first since December that included players in person. 'I think for the league to hear the players' perspective definitely goes a long way,' Stewart, a New York Liberty star and vice president of the WNBPA said. 'The way I would describe it, if I could give a summary, is we're a work in progress.' Ogwumike said earlier this month that she felt the league gave off an impression that 'players don't understand the business.' '(WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert) has told me that to my face,' she said earlier this July. 'I communicated that to the players and I said, 'OK, let's demonstrate that we do understand the business, especially as we're going back and forth in negotiations.' Engelbert left the building in which the meeting was held just under four hours after it began. For multiple players on the WNBPA executive committee, a key hangup was a league proposal regarding revenue sharing. While players did not disclose the fixed revenue percentage that the league proposed, players expressed frustration that it would limit their ability to grow with the league itself. 'I don't know that I'm going to say progress,' Jackson said, when asked if they made progress on revenue sharing talks. 'But we had spirited conversations.' The league's current CBA, which was agreed to in January 2020 and runs through Oct. 31, created significant shifts in the league. Groundbreaking maternity benefits and a notable jump in maximum player salaries were among the major shifts; however, much has changed around the WNBA since. The WNBA continues to routinely achieve record or near-record TV broadcast ratings, with a new 11-year, $2.2 billion TV deal set to go into effect next season. The league recently announced three expansion teams — in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia — set to debut in 2028, 2029 and 2030, respectively, all set to enter the league at a record $250 million expansion fee. 'From what we can tell, the trends are pretty good when it comes to the financial side of things, and we're not unreasonable in understanding the business for us to be able to negotiate with somebody that reflects our values,' Ogwumike said earlier this month. In a statement provided after Thursday's meeting, the WNBPA said that, 'The only thing more unsustainable than the current system is pretending it can go on forever. It's not complicated. We are committed to the fight.' The Athletic's Hannah Vanbiber contributed to this story. (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / Imagn Images) This article originally appeared in The Athletic. WNBA 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Al Arabiya
16-07-2025
- Business
- Al Arabiya
They pulled off huge March Madness upsets. Now they're opting out of revenue sharing
Saint Peters, Fairleigh Dickinson, and Maryland-Baltimore County–three schools that have taken March Madness by storm at various points in the past decade–have declined to opt in to college sports' new revenue sharing model. The newly formed College Sports Commission, which oversees revenue sharing following the House settlement, posted a list of schools that have opted into revenue sharing. All members of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern Conference are participating, and other Division I schools had to opt in or out by June 30. Saint Peters, which reached the men's Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed in 2022, did not opt in. Iona and Manhattan, who play with Saint Peters in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, didn't either. UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson, the only two teams to pull off a 16-over-1 upset in the men's basketball tournament, opted out as well. Fairleigh Dickinson is part of the Northeast Conference, which had just one school–Long Island University–opt in. 'It's expensive to opt in,' Idaho athletic director Terry Gawlik told the Lewiston Tribune. 'We don't have that kind of money to pay for that.' Idaho is one of several Big Sky schools opting out. In addition to the costs of sharing revenue directly with athletes, Title IX concerns and scholarship limitations are among the reasons a school might opt out. 'Revenue sharing and scholarship limits are really one piece, but the big thing for us is the roster limitation,' Central Arkansas athletic director Matt Whiting told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette while explaining his schools' decision to opt out. Military rules prevent Navy, Air Force, and Army from compensating athletes through name image and likeness deals, but aside from them, the Football Bowl Subdivision leagues have full participation in the settlement. Other conferences with all full members opting in included the Atlantic 10, Big East, Coastal Athletic, Horizon, Missouri Valley, Southwestern Athletic, Western Athletic, and West Coast. The Big West had everyone opt in except Cal Poly and UC Davis, which play football in the Big Sky. Nebraska-Omaha is the lone full member of the Summit League to opt out, and Tennessee State is the only full Ohio Valley member to do so. The Ivy League said in January that its eight schools–which do not award athletic scholarships–would not participate. The Patriot League didn't have any full members opt in either, although Fordham, Georgetown, and Richmond–associate members who play football in that conference–did. Of the 68 schools that made the NCAA men's basketball tournament last year, only American, Nebraska-Omaha, Saint Francis, and Yale have opted out of revenue sharing. Five schools that made the women's tournament opted out: Columbia, Fairleigh Dickinson, Harvard, Lehigh, and Princeton. Commissioners of historically Black conferences have expressed concern that the push to make athletes school employees could potentially destroy athletic programs–but the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference had everyone opt in except North Carolina Central. Some schools that don't play Division I football or basketball opted in–such as Johns Hopkins with its storied lacrosse program. Augusta University, which is located in the same town as the Masters and perhaps unsurprisingly competes in Division I in golf, was on the list of teams opting in.
Washington Post
16-07-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
They pulled off huge March Madness upsets. Now they're opting out of revenue sharing
Saint Peter's, Fairleigh Dickinson and Maryland-Baltimore County — three schools that have taken March Madness by storm at various points in the past decade — have declined to opt in to college sports' new revenue sharing model. The newly formed College Sports Commission, which oversees revenue sharing following the House settlement , posted a list of schools that have opted into revenue sharing. All members of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference are participating, and other Division I schools had to opt in or out by June 30.
