New Mexico State will opt into the House vs. NCAA settlement, which sets forth a new multi-billion dollar revenue-sharing agreement that allows schools to compensate student-athletes directly, acting athletic director Amber Burdge confirmed to the Las Cruces Sun-News on Friday.
Schools across the country had a deadline of March 1 to choose whether or not to opt into the agreement, made in May 2024, which Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court for Northern District of California granted preliminary approval of on Oct. 7, 2024. A final approval hearing is scheduled for April 7, 2025, and it’s widely expected Wilken will officially approve the settlement.
Burdge was approached for comment on whether or not NM State would opt into the settlement on Friday morning, and a university athletics spokesman provided this statement via email on her behalf on Friday evening:
“NM State is proud to opt in to the terms of the House v. NCAA settlement, as this is the right decision for our institution and, most importantly, our student-athletes,” Burdge said in her statement to the Sun-News. “Their hard work, dedication, and contributions to our university deserve to be recognized and supported in meaningful ways.
“This decision strengthens our commitment to providing the best possible experience for our student-athletes on and off the field by ensuring they have the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. As the landscape of collegiate athletics continues to evolve, we are embracing progress in a way that reinforces our investment in student-athlete success while positioning NM State Athletics to remain competitive at the highest level.”
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What is the House settlement?
The House vs. NCAA settlement outlines name, image and likeness payment methods for current and former student-athletes. For former student-athletes, it amounts to damages totaling $2.78 billion over the next 10 years at approximately $277 million annually. Group of Five schools like NM State are responsible for approximately 10% of the NCAA’s total damages.
The settlement is a culmination of an ongoing legal battle since 2020, when then-collegiate athletes Grant House and Sedona Prince sued the NCAA and the then-Power Five Conferences — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — for NIL damages and an injunction to force the NCAA to remove restrictions on revenue-sharing from broadcast television rights.
In addition to the $2.78 billion in back payments over 10 years, all parties agreed to the creation of a revenue-sharing model for power conferences. Power conference schools were required to opt-in, while other schools and conferences — like NM State and Conference USA — were given the option to join the new structure.
For current student-athletes, the settlement mandates NIL deals not established through the university and valued at $600 or more must be reported to a third-party clearinghouse to ensure compliance with market value standards. The settlement also implements roster caps for sports, such as 105 players for football and 15 for basketball.
The settlement’s terms, if approved, will come into effect at the start of the 2025-26 academic year on July 1.
How does this affect New Mexico State?
Burdge told the Sun-News that NM State is still working out the exact details of how the university will distribute revenue to its student-athletes.
Schools are allowed to pay a maximum of $20.5 million to student-athletes, mirroring an estimated share of 22% of annual revenue generated by Power Four schools. A model outlined in the House settlement details how the $20.5 million can be given to athletes, including 75% to football players, 15% to men’s basketball players, 5% to women’s basketball players and the remaining 10% to all other athletes. This accounts for $13.5 million for football, $2.7 million and $900,000 for women’s basketball players.
However, NM State is unlikely to give $20.5 million to its athletes due to its financial situation within athletics. USA TODAY reported NM State’s athletics revenue at $30,350,192 for the 2021-22 fiscal year, while data from the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis shows NM State’s revenue as $35,828,331 for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
Burdge informed the Sun-News that the exact totals of what will be given to student-athletes and teams will be worked out in the coming months. She also said the total amount given to all student-athletes and how many scholarships the university can add for the next academic year has not been determined yet.
The settlement marks a fundamental shift in how schools will approach NIL-related matters, and ones that NM State’s new NIL leaders will have take on. A-Mountain Sports, NM State’s official NIL collective, recently gained new leaders last November in Paul Smith, Luke Smith and Jordan Banegas. The trio replaced Paul Grindstaff, who joined Vanderbilt’s Anchor Impact NIL collective in October.
The House settlement is also a driving factor behind the NM State’s $137 million endowment request for women’s sports. Former NM State athletic director Mario Moccia told the Sun-News back in October about his belief that women’s sports could get left behind due to the settlement, and the endowment request was a proactive move to make sure female Aggie athletes would be taken care of. Concerns over women’s sports funding and making sure the settlement complies with Title IX have posed an obstacle for approval.
“There’s just a fear with a school like ours that is really living paycheck to paycheck… that women’s sports might get left behind,” Moccia told the Sun-News in October 2024. “We wanted to be a little proactive.”
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Acting AD Burdge says NMSU will opt into House vs. NCAA settlement
