Earlier this month, the landscape of college sports significantly changed when a judge officially approved the NCAA House settlement. With the approval, collegiate athletics have officially entered the age of revenue sharing between schools and athletes.
So how does USC plan to attack this new era? A recent report from Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times looked into the matter.
“Each of USC’s 23 athletic programs, in other words, will benefit from the advent of revenue sharing in one of those three ways. UCLA, on the other hand, has taken a different approach by announcing that it will not add any additional scholarships and instead divide all of that $20.5 million among its individual athletes.
“We can safely assume USC won’t stray all that far from the formula put forth last year when the settlement received preliminary approval,” Kartje wrote. “That model called for 75% of the cap set aside for football, 15% for men’s basketball and 5% for women’s basketball, while the other 5% would be split up among the rest of the school’s programs.
“That remaining 5% to 10%, set aside for non-revenue sports, is where strategy will come into play. Newly funded scholarships still count against the cap, up to $2.5 million, and still cost the university real money. USC won’t just add them indiscriminately.
“Adding a scholarship could make a more significant difference than cutting a check. But it also means less to directly pay athletes who are looking for checks.”
Obviously, there are still far more questions than answers. But with the leadership of athletic director Jennifer Cohen, the Trojans appear to be in good hands to adapt to this rapidly changing era of college athletics.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: LA Times report looks at USC revenue sharing plans following NCAA House settlement
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
