Proposed NCAA settlement could give Stetson Bennett a share of multi-billion dollar payout

The House vs. NCAA settlement could give a large number of athletes, including former Georgia star quarterback Stetson Bennett, a share of some $2.7 billion payout over the next decade. 

There are still a number of details to be hashed out and it could take several months to actually settle. Regardless of how things shake out, there's expected to be a large impact across the college sports landscape as it pertains to walk-ons (like Bennett), multiple facets of NIL era policy, and more.

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Potential NCAA Settlement Payouts

"Power conferences would agree to a future system for schools directly sharing revenue with athletes, a permissive choice that's projected to be in the neighborhood of $20 million per year for each school," Pete Thamel and Dan Murphy of ESPN wrote. "Sources told ESPN it would take a minimum of six months, and likely longer, to hash out the unsettled details. Revenue sharing with players is not expected to begin until fall 2025 at the earliest."

According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, there are documents that specify the total amount in back damages owed to athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness before the NCAA lifted NIL prohibitions in 2021. The exact amount is $2.776 billion.

Per the same report, the NCAA is responsible for paying the amount, roughly $277 million on an annual basis, over a 10-year time period.

"About 60% of that will come from a reduction in distribution to its schools," Dellenger wrote. "The NCAA is responsible for closing the 40% gap through other means, such as reserves, other net incomes and a significant reduction in operating expenses of as much as $18 million annually."

Possible NCAA Bankruptcy

Also according to the document, the estimated $20 billion owed in damages would be able to be paid out "immediately" following the final judgement instead spreading it out over 10 years.

That, by multiple accounts, is expected to cause the NCAA and college athletic conferences to file bankruptcy.

"While bankruptcy may temporarily derail the active antitrust cases, it would move litigation to a bankruptcy judge for a decision, would require restructuring of a new model and would open schools to new direct claims from plaintiff attorneys," Dellenger wrote.

What the full details ultimately look like when all is said and done will be something to monitor that could have multiple case scenarios, but there's no question this looks like a step towards righting wrongs to some players who made a major impact for their respective teams like Bennett did in the pre-NIL era.