Will House vs. NCAA settlement cause major changes for UND? (2024)

May 20—GRAND FORKS — UND Athletic Director Bill Chaves is in Chicago this week to participate in the annual Missouri Valley Football Conference meetings.

The MVFC meetings include head football coaches, athletic directors, faculty representatives and university presidents.

This week, one might say the meetings also include a big elephant in the room.

ESPN and other national outlets are reporting the NCAA is on the verge of settling the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit with estimations of the final settlement near $2.8 billion in damages.

Beyond the payment of former athletes, if the initial settlement reports become reality, the power conferences (the Big Ten, for example) would agree to spend a maximum of roughly $20 million per year on direct payments to athletes in an effort to address revenue sharing.

House vs. NCAA is a case that seeks back pay for Division I college athletes who were barred from earning name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation prior to the NCAA changing its policy in 2021, while also pursuing a cut of future broadcast revenues for athletes at power-conference schools.

In order to pay off this massive settlement, details from national reports claim the NCAA will withhold some of its annual financial distributions to conferences, which could impact UND.

The settlement timing this week revolves around a pair of meetings. The NCAA Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, while the NCAA Board of Governors will meet Wednesday.

"This week has every chance to be flipped on its head," Chaves told the Herald from Chicago. "Sometimes, though, these things have a way of being paused. I always remain optimistic that college athletics will always find a place in our country; it's just how will it operate?

"I think we're still in real time, so I hesitate to put any sort of definitive measures of what it could be. Literally, we're in the midst of this. Anyone who has ever been in some sort of negotiation knows until every 'i' is dotted and 't' crossed ... you don't know until you know."

ESPN reported Monday the 22 conferences that don't have FBS football — known as the CCA22, of which UND's Missouri Valley Football Conference would be included — have been engaged in conversations regarding a disappointment with the settlement proposal. The CCA22 believes this outcome was also reached without a seat at the negotiating table.

ESPN reports the CCA22 wants the settlement responsibility to land heavier on the power conferences, as those conferences host a majority of the athletes who stand to benefit.

"The commissioners of the 22 conferences that don't sponsor FBS responded with an alternative thought process of the terms of the settlement," Chaves said. "We've joined hands (with the CCA22), making sure that just because this is the first iteration of terms doesn't necessarily mean it has to be the last iteration."

The NCAA potentially holding back six different distribution funds is a concern, Chaves said. The lowest level of annual payouts expected to be withheld for smaller leagues, such as those UND is a member, is just under $ 2 million, which is estimated to be more than 20% of what those leagues get from the NCAA per year.

Each league then distributes those funds to its members. If those funds aren't received, administrators around the country have feared scholarship cuts, staffing cuts or even program cuts.

"Those would be revenue streams we count on on an annual basis," he said.

The potential settlement in this landmark case would create a major wave of possible structural changes for the NCAA and its members.

One of those trickle-down impacts could be seen throughout the MVFC. Some pundits have hypothesized the House vs. NCAA settlement will begin the process of the power conferences splitting from the Group of 5 conferences, which could set the stage for three tiers of Division I football.

Some have wondered where that leaves the top programs in the FCS, including the Division I programs in the Dakotas.

"I think we're all open to understanding that there's a different way football might be played at the highest level," Chaves said. "The question becomes, what's after that? I think this week could potentially go a long way to determining that. We have to be open to making sure we put UND in the best position possible."