On June 6, 2025, Federal Judge Claudia Wilken issued a landmark decision on whether former college athletes deserve compensation for missing out on opportunities to make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL).
The $2.8 billion settlement offers relief to players from 2016 onward, but it leaves behind athletes who competed before that era. To me, this decision is a mixed bag: it acknowledges recent injustices, yet draws an arbitrary line that excludes many student athletes who helped pave the way. Like in 2010 when University of Southern California running back Reggie Bush got his Heisman taken away for receiving some money.
In the new era of college athletics, players are earning millions from their NIL. But until now, the money never flowed directly from the universities. That changes under this ruling.
Schools must now share revenue with athletes — a dramatic shift that blurs the line between amateur and professional sports even more, with some collegiate athletes getting paid more than some of their professional counterparts or getting traded, like ex-Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava getting sent to UCLA for Joey Aguilar.
This is good news for current and future players, who are finally being recognized for the value they generate. However, it’s hard to ignore the fact that athletes from before 2016 are left empty-handed, despite having laid the foundation of college athletics as we know it. Imagine the players who helped pack arenas, sold jerseys and brought in TV money in the 1990s and 2000s. They won’t see a dime.
The question is what schools like Wichita State will do with this new responsibility. Without football, WSU has the opportunity to utilize its salary cap more strategically than its “peers,” who must allocate most of their funds to football rosters. Basketball and other college sports could benefit in ways we haven’t seen before, like the collegiate athletes who get paid like professionals. But there’s also the risk that the bulk of funds goes straight into men’s basketball, leaving non-revenue athletes feeling like afterthoughts.
The NCAA dragged its feet for decades, forcing courts to modernize the college sports landscape. Now, the burden falls on schools to ensure this new system is fair, transparent and inclusive. If universities only chase wins with their payout money, the cycle of exploitation continues, just in a different form.
Paying athletes for NIL is long overdue, but fairness demands we don’t forget those left out of the settlement. Real reform should honor the past as much as it invests in the future.
