Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork speaks to the media Thursday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Credit: Sandra Fu | Managing Photo Editor
Over the past five years, college athletics has undergone a massive transformation, shifting from amateur ideals to a new era defined by athlete empowerment, NIL deals, and legal reckonings.
On Friday, that evolution reached a historic milestone: a federal judge officially approved the House v. NCAA settlement, a groundbreaking antitrust agreement that will reshape the financial and operational structure of college sports for decades to come. Under Judge Claudia Wilken’s newly approved agreement, schools can begin directly distributing up to $20.5 million in revenue to student-athletes starting July 1, in what’s termed “revenue sharing.”
At Ohio State, the change is immediate. Athletic Director Ross Bjork announced that the university will distribute $18 million in institutional NIL funds this upcoming season. But that money won’t be spread across the athletic department—it will be concentrated in just four sports: football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball.
“For us, we will allocate the $18 million starting in four sports: women’s volleyball, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and of course our football program,” Bjork said in a press conference Thursday. “Those are the four sports that we will start with. We hope we can grow that.”
The remaining $2.5 million of Ohio State’s $20.5 million NIL cap will be used for scholarships.
“Any time you add a new scholarship in any sport, that has to count against the $20.5 million,” Bjork said.
Bjork declined to provide a breakdown of how the $18 million will be split among the four sports, explaining that “numbers create narratives.”
“We really try to use metrics in a formula, while also balancing some Title IX approach in this as well,” Bjork said while explaining how those four sports got chosen.
Many expect universities nationwide to devote the bulk of their new NIL funds to high-revenue sports like football and men’s basketball, raising questions about the future of non-revenue programs. Bjork, however, stressed that Ohio State remains committed to maintaining all 36 of its teams.
“We will maintain all 36 sports,” Bjork said. “[We] have an obligation to the young people in those programs. There’s a lot of historical programs that compete here.”
Though athletic departments everywhere are preparing to adjust to a dramatically different model, Bjork sees the settlement as bringing something the industry has long needed: clarity.
“The main thing is clarity,” Bjork said when answering what he likes about the new model. “It’s not perfect, but it’s progress that we’ve never had before. It’s transformational progress.”
For all the financial restructuring and operational uncertainties, Bjork emphasized that some core values of college sports remain unchanged, opening with a grounding reminder: “We’re still going to class and we’re still going to play the games.”
