UNC joins changing times in college sports under House v. NCAA settlement

To compete in the new world of college athletics the University of Northern Colorado will need creativity strategy and the involvement of the local public athletic director Darren Dunn mentioned this month In early June the chaotic college sports landscape changed again A federal judge in California finalized the settlement of a -year-old antitrust lawsuit between six former Division I student-athletes and the NCAA allowing schools to begin directly paying athletes as of July Over the past four years Division I college athletes had been permitted to earn money through sponsorships endorsements social media and other business arrangements but not through the schools themselves In addition to allowing direct pay from schools the settlement will change how these NIL payments are regulated UNC decided to opt into the terms of the settlement It s a massive change in our world Dunn announced It is a important milestone in college athletics and it means a lot more work for our staff staying up with trends providing opportunities for our student-athletes and to keep winning Quite frankly that s what this is about University of Colorado men's basketball coach Tad Boyle left stands with University of Northern Colorado athletic director Darren Dunn during Boyle's induction into the UNC Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday Sept at the University Center at UNC in Greeley Boyle a Greeley native coached UNC from - in his first Division I head coaching job turning around the activity as it transitioned from Division II Woody Myers University of Northern Colorado The House v NCAA settlement includes nearly billion in back pay over the next years to all Division I athletes who competed in college sports from to This money in part will come from the NCAA by withholding a variety of fund payments annually made to schools and conferences At UNC this will equal a loss of about per year for the next decade The Big Sky Conference of which UNC is a full member will lose about million per year over the length of the payout from the full-member schools reductions and the conference office according to deputy commissioner Dan Satter You unfailingly want a seat at the table and a chance to voice your perspective Satter explained To not have that and to have financial repercussions that are disproportionate to the athletes impacted in the Big Sky Conference and reflected in the settlement is certainly frustrating The defendants in the lawsuit were the NCAA and what were once the five major or power conferences the Pac- Conference the Big Ten Conference the Big Conference the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference The plaintiffs the six former Division I student-athletes represented the three classes of the settlement according to the -page agreement Grant House Sedona Price Tymir Oliver Nya Harrison DeWayne Carter and Nicholas Solomon Related Articles CU position preview Buffs secondary retooled but has plenty of talent CU position preview Buffs hope revamped offensive line produces better results Big Ten commissioner will evaluate schedules in all sports next spring CFP NCAA Tournament expansion momentum fades as Big Ten SEC disagree CU Buffs position preview Transfers in spotlight in rebuilt linebacker room University of Northern Colorado guard London Gamble dribbles in front of teammate Tatum West during a women s basketball summer practice at UNC in Greeley UNC Athletics The settlement classes consisted of football and men s basketball women s basketball and the additional sports class The classes in the settlement are differentiated based on the athletes earning probable in the sports The settlement money will be split into two funds billion for NIL maintains and million for the additional compensation suggests according to the agreement Inside the NIL suggests money is million for video event usage or injury for football and men s basketball billion for broadcast usage for football and men s and women s basketball and million for third-party injury for all three classes who received NIL payments after July The million for the additional compensation is comprised of million to the Power football and men s basketball athletes and million for the additional sports athletes University of Northern Colorado men s basketball member Zach Bloch dribbles the ball during a summer workout at Bank of Colorado in Greeley Bloch a graduate scholar and guard will play a fifth season with the Bears in the - season UNC Athletics All schools in the defendant conferences were bound by all of the terms of the settlement Schools in other Division I conferences were only bound to the settlement if they opted into the terms No representatives of Division I schools outside of the Power Conferences were involved in the settlement according to Satter He revealed the conference is encouraged by its place in college athletics because the Big Sky appeals to what attracted fans to the sports We re going to be more and more what people fell in love with about college athletics and we re going to have more of what is a traditional model as opposed to the FBS Football Bowl Subdivision level and certainly the Power Satter stated UNC head football coach Ed Lamb reported the impact of the opt-in won t be considerable for the Bears activity Lamb mentioned it was critical for him to know university leadership from President Andy Feinstein to Dunn and himself were in alignment to do everything we can do to be competitive Lamb also reported he desired to know the university leaders were interested in continuing to play at the Football Championship Subdivision level and that the Big Sky Conference is the right place for UNC And I feel that from the people who run the university Lamb declared Lamb explained the biggest revenue stream he can control is trying to win games The coach soon begins his third season with the Bears and the unit has won once in games the past two seasons Preseason practices begin Monday It s going to produce more butts in the seats and ticket sales Lamb mentioned of winning When there s a winning football effort pupil enrollment tends to increase Those are the things I ve got to keep my focus on The University of Northern Colorado football club going through a practice at UNC fields in Greeley UNC Athletics UNC men s basketball coach Steve Smiley also declared he was glad the university opted into the terms of the settlement For a while UNC representatives had hesitations about going along with the terms The sticking point for the university was a component of the settlement impacting roster sizes The settlement does away with scholarship limits Roster limits are in place for schools that opt in but this mandate comes with a grandfather clause Until discussions and negotiations between the sides working out the settlement were held there was a possibility schools opting into the settlement would have been required to cut roster spots Schools that opt in don t have to decrease roster sizes at this point At UNC and other Big Sky Conference schools the matter of roster sizes was a concern because of a loss of enrollment revenue That was not a direction UNC demanded to go The university has been working for several years to improve its financial stability through higher enrollment Dunn noted UNC teams would ve lost about roster spots under the previous version of the settlement This equals about million in enrollment revenue he disclosed Losing head count is not a good thing Smiley added also noting his group is set for the - season and the impacts of House will be factored into plans for future seasons In my circles and talking to people it appears it will give the preponderance flexibility in operating in the future And I think that s a good thing There was not a downside with our department knowing we didn t have to lose student-athletes UNC decided to opt into the settlement for a couple of other reasons Dunn noted For one the university wants to participate at the highest level of Division I athletics The university also wants to provide additional support to athletes How UNC compensates athletes remains in the discussion and planning phases This is where UNC s interest in being more creative and strategic becomes a focus University of Northern Colorado junior Krista Francia runs down a Sacramento State runner for an out during a Big Sky Conference battle at Gloria Rodriguez Field in Greeley Jim Rydbom Staff Photographer Dunn noted the university had not made any NIL payments to student-athletes as of July This does not include payments from the Bear Pride Collective summer school scholarships or Alston academic awards Dunn mentioned the university will have to self-generate revenue to pay athletes and there are a limited tactics this can be accomplished Among the simplest of these options are finding sponsorships fundraising and battle guarantees Tournament guarantees are when a larger school such as the University of Colorado pays a sum of money to a smaller school such as UNC to play at the bigger s school s home site This will happen in and when the Bears football gang returns to Folsom Field in Boulder for games against the Buffs UNC will receive a total of million for the two games UNC football will receive for two games against Wyoming in and according to FBSchedules com earlier this month The women s basketball gang last year played a guaranteed battle at Brigham Young University These games can generate anywhere from a scant thousand dollars to Dunn declared This is the type of money that could go toward paying athletes under House Dunn disclosed he s also heard of other schools putting a fee on tickets to generate additional revenue In a declaration on House v NCAA UNC commented this new era will require unprecedented collaboration with the athletic department alumni and the Greeley district For us to continue to be competitive in this conditions we re going to have to get more people involved Dunn disclosed this month There are a lot of people who live in the area who are not alumni There are a lot of businesses that are triumphant here I think the better we are the better we can promote Greeley and the better we can promote the Weld County area The Bear Pride Collective was established in after athletes were allowed to begin receiving NIL payments The collective works through a third-party organization to facilitate NIL opportunities or transactions between UNC student-athletes and fans donors and businesses the university explained at the time University of Northern Colorado wrestler Andrew Alirez shows love for the Bank of Colorado crowd in February during his last home match in Greeley Jim Rydbom Staff Photographer The collective is not officially affiliated with the UNC Athletic Department Though it s recommended by UNC to endorsement its student-athletes the collective is a separate entity At the time the Bear Pride Collective was established it was run by an Atlanta-based company called Pupil Athlete NIL As of now Dunn does not see a change in how the Bear Pride Collective operates he commented The collective is another option for donors to give to UNC athletes A representative from the Bear Pride Collective couldn t be reached for comment about its role under the House settlement terms I think at several point down the road there might be less options but right now I see it as a benefit Dunn noted Under the House settlement booster collectives may pay student-athletes for NIL as long as all of the payments are for valid business purposes according to Ropes Gray All NIL transactions with a total value of or more must be shared to the newly created College Sports Commission The commission was set up to oversee the new system under the settlement Another term of the settlement stipulates schools may share revenue with athletes at an annual capped amount of million per school for this year The cap is expected to increase by about million each year after - to an estimated million in - UNC won t give athletes million but the university will do the best we can with the guidance we have Dunn disclosed Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams