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Good Thursday Morning. Bringing you an abbreviated, “snack size” version of SBP this week.

#1: We are officially in the professional college sports era

🗯️ My thought bubble: It was an almost certain outcome that the House settlement would get approved, but it’s still surreal now that we are finally here. I will have a much more detailed write-up on this soon because I wanted to let the dust settle on the settlement and see what comes out of this week’s NACDA, the biggest annual college sports conference that puts all of the industry power players in one room for a few days and was exceptionally timed this year.

Here is a TL;DR of what’s in the settlement, and if you want to dive in deeper, Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger has a short breakdown on the ramifications here.

1. Backpay: Thousands of former athletes that played from 2016-2024 are eligible to receive a portion of a $2.8 billion pool in backpay from lost NIL compensation. More than 85,000 athletes have filed for backpay.

2. Revenue Sharing: $20.5 million revenue share with athletes starting July 1. ~90% of the revenue share is expected to go to football and men’s basketball at most schools

3. NIL: Net new NIL deals above $600 will go through a clearinghouse called NIL Go, powered by Deloitte and LBi Software, in order to determine legitimacy and “fair market value.”

4. Enforcement: A new enforcement entity managed by the power conferences instead of the NCAA — dubbed the “College Sports Commission” — will oversee and enforce rules related to the revenue-share concept

5. Roster limits: A net new structure that would be enacted with approval of the settlement (and a big sticking point with Judge Wilken due to the ramifications for Olympics sports and walk-ons) was resolved via a compromise where schools can grandfather-in athletes on existing teams or those who have been cut this year, as well as recruits who enrolled on the promise of a roster spot.

#2: If you were wondering which schools are going all in on this brave new world, look no further than Texas Tech.

#3: Despite the current climate around college athletics being dominated by the big boys, there are still Cinderella stories in Olympic sports — Murray State is going to the Men’s College World Series!

#4: This was one of the best tennis matches of all time, and it’s awesome to see Alcaraz continue to carry the mantle post-Rafa (and celebrate with the ball crew).

#5: Padres’ players finding a wholesome way to pass the time while their plane gets fixed

Until next time, sports fans!

-Alex