NCAA proposing new college athletics subdivision rooted in direct athlete compensation

Of the many recent changes in college athletics, the most transformative — and revolutionary — may be on the way.

NCAA president Charlie Baker is planning to introduce this week a proposal to create a new subdivision within Division I that grants certain schools more autonomy around policy-making and permits them to compensate athletes in a new and profound way.

In a letter sent to Division I members, and obtained by Yahoo Sports, Baker outlines a groundbreaking and radical change to the NCAA Division I athletics model, describing it as a “new forward-looking framework.”

According to Baker’s proposal, schools that choose to be part of the new subdivision — they can opt in or out — are required to meet a strict minimum standard rooted in athlete investment.

Members of the new subdivision will be permitted to strike name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with their own athletes — a significant move away from the current NIL structure.

However, the most impactful benefit of this new model is a framework in which schools can directly compensate athletes through a trust fund. Schools within the new subdivision will be required to distribute to athletes thousands of dollars in additional educationally related funds without limitation.

There is no cap on the amount of funds that a program can provide an athlete.

It is perhaps the single-most revolutionary concept introduced by a sitting NCAA leader in college athletics history.

“It kick-starts a long-overdue conversation among the membership that focuses on the differences that exist between schools, conferences and divisions and how to create more permissive and flexible rules across the NCAA that put student-athletes first,” Baker writes in the letter. “Colleges and universities need to be more flexible, and the NCAA needs to be more flexible, too.”

The…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-proposing-new-college-athletics-subdivision-rooted-in-direct-athlete-compensation-145051537.html

Author :

Publish date : 2023-12-05 14:50:51

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.