Increase in Athletic Scholarships

[Pablo]

​

Ross Dellenger
@RossDellenger

On Tuesday, commissioners finalized roster limits that’ll be filed Friday in House settlement, sources tell
@YahooSports:

football 105
M/W basketball 15
baseball 34
softball 25
volleyball 18

Schools can offer scholarships to full rosters starting 2025-26


Sources: NCAA to increase scholarships for sports, with football getting roster limit of 105 players

From sports.yahoo.com

12:46 PM · Jul 24, 2024

"As part of the new revenue-sharing model — beginning in 2025-26 academic year — by-sport scholarship restrictions are eliminated, and schools are permitted to offer scholarships to the entirety of their rosters. The new roster limit figures are not final until the approval of House settlement terms."

"Football, with a current scholarship restriction of 85, will now have a roster limit of 105 — a 20-scholarship increase for those schools willing to give the maximum. In an important note for football, the 105 may not be a requirement until the start of the competitive season, giving coaches flexibility to go beyond that figure during preseason camp, for instance.

Baseball, with a current scholarship restriction of 11.7, is expected to have a roster of 34. Scholarship spots for softball and volleyball, each currently at 12, will increase to 25 and 18, respectively.

In all, more than 60 additional scholarships are available for distribution in those five sports. As they do now, schools are not required to distribute scholarships to each player. For instance, many schools are unlikely to use a full 34 scholarships for baseball, choosing instead to offer grants to only a portion of its roster and leave walk-on opportunities.

The new roster figures are expected to be included in the long-form agreement in the landmark settlement of three antitrust cases, including the House v. NCAA lawsuit. The agreement is expected to be filed Friday with details on the distribution of the $2.77 billion in back pay to former athletes as well as particulars of the new revenue-sharing model permitting schools to distribute upwards of $20-plus million annually.

The details around roster sizes of other sports — many of which will see increases in scholarship slots — are expected in the document. No sport will see a reduction in scholarship spots, according to plaintiff attorneys. As part of the agreement, roster limits must be set at or more than current scholarship restriction for each sport.

Another key change to the scholarship structure: All sports will be considered 'equivalency sports,' meaning partial scholarships can be distributed to players. Football, basketball and other sports are currently considered 'head-count sports,' which require players on scholarship to receive a full grant."






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[2011WinOverVillanova]

​

Ross Dellenger
@RossDellenger

On Tuesday, commissioners finalized roster limits that’ll be filed Friday in House settlement, sources tell
@YahooSports:

football 105
M/W basketball 15
baseball 34
softball 25
volleyball 18

Schools can offer scholarships to full rosters starting 2025-26


Sources: NCAA to increase scholarships for sports, with football getting roster limit of 105 players

From sports.yahoo.com

12:46 PM · Jul 24, 2024

"As part of the new revenue-sharing model — beginning in 2025-26 academic year — by-sport scholarship restrictions are eliminated, and schools are permitted to offer scholarships to the entirety of their rosters. The new roster limit figures are not final until the approval of House settlement terms."

"Football, with a current scholarship restriction of 85, will now have a roster limit of 105 — a 20-scholarship increase for those schools willing to give the maximum. In an important note for football, the 105 may not be a requirement until the start of the competitive season, giving coaches flexibility to go beyond that figure during preseason camp, for instance.

Baseball, with a current scholarship restriction of 11.7, is expected to have a roster of 34. Scholarship spots for softball and volleyball, each currently at 12, will increase to 25 and 18, respectively.

In all, more than 60 additional scholarships are available for distribution in those five sports. As they do now, schools are not required to distribute scholarships to each player. For instance, many schools are unlikely to use a full 34 scholarships for baseball, choosing instead to offer grants to only a portion of its roster and leave walk-on opportunities.

The new roster figures are expected to be included in the long-form agreement in the landmark settlement of three antitrust cases, including the House v. NCAA lawsuit. The agreement is expected to be filed Friday with details on the distribution of the $2.77 billion in back pay to former athletes as well as particulars of the new revenue-sharing model permitting schools to distribute upwards of $20-plus million annually.

The details around roster sizes of other sports — many of which will see increases in scholarship slots — are expected in the document. No sport will see a reduction in scholarship spots, according to plaintiff attorneys. As part of the agreement, roster limits must be set at or more than current scholarship restriction for each sport.

Another key change to the scholarship structure: All sports will be considered 'equivalency sports,' meaning partial scholarships can be distributed to players. Football, basketball and other sports are currently considered 'head-count sports,' which require players on scholarship to receive a full grant."






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Isn't it a double edged sword though that the additional spots will need some NIL funds?

 

[GMUgemini]

Isn't it a double edged sword though that the additional spots will need some NIL funds?

That doesn’t come from the university though.

I’m not exactly sure why football and basketball need more scholarships. I think it might be heading off the athletes are employees lawsuit though with walkons (just make them all scholarship players?)

It’s hard enough to give 13 players enough playing time let alone another 2. And for football 105 just seems wildly too many players even for that sport, that’s like 5 deep at every position.

 

[2011WinOverVillanova]

That doesn’t come from the university though.

I’m not exactly sure why football and basketball need more scholarships. I think it might be heading off the athletes are employees lawsuit though with walkons (just make them all scholarship players?)

It’s hard enough to give 13 players enough playing time let alone another 2. And for football 105 just seems wildly too many players even for that sport, that’s like 5 deep at every position.

No it doesn’t but don’t discount that additional fundraising headwind of having to cover 2-3 more a year. We’re not rolling in money and the Chevy dealership only takes us so far.

 

[Walter]

Seems every change benefits mostly the P4 schools.

 

[GSII]

Anyone have insight into other sports such as mens soccer?

I could be wrong, but Mens College Soccer were forced to reduce their roster spots to 26 from 33. While they only recieved 9.5 scholarships before, I heard that drops to 8. Considering the poor growth and development of USA Soccer, its mind blowing they would do this to mens college soccer.

 

[jessej]

in most sports on the rich Power 5 schools can afford the additional scholarships

for most other schools
one strategy is to invest in the sports they dominate while dropping the others
but while keeping in line with Title IX
and conference rules on minimum number of men's and women's sports

 

[Pablo]

Anyone have insight into other sports such as mens soccer?

New roster limit for men's soccer: 28

New college sports roster limits revealed as House settlement expands scholarship numbers

More than 750 additional scholarships are coming to college sports.

sports.yahoo.com

"As part of the House settlement agreement made public on Friday, college leaders are expanding scholarships to full rosters of each sport, eliminating scholarship restrictions and replacing them with roster size limits. The new scholarship and roster structure — an attempt to prevent future lawsuits — takes effect starting in the 2025-26 academic year and coincides with the settlement’s new model that permits schools to share revenue directly with athletes.

Commissioners finalized new roster limits earlier this week, and they were all revealed with Friday’s court filing.

In the new model, schools are permitted to offer a scholarship to each player on a sport’s roster up to the new roster limits. With the move, roughly 790 new scholarships are available across the 40-plus NCAA sports listed in the settlement. According to a Yahoo Sports calculation, there are about 500 scholarships available in all sports in the current NCAA model. Under the new roster limits, that number is now at more than 1,200."

"Those that are not defendants in the settlement case — schools and conferences in the Group of Five, FCS and non-football playing Division I programs — are bound by the roster limits, reporting system and enforcement mechanism only if they choose to share revenue with athletes. They can opt out of the new model if they decline to share revenue."

"Many schools are preparing to increase scholarships significantly. According to several power conference administrators who spoke to Yahoo Sports, programs are planning to spend $3-7 million in additional scholarships each year, some of which ($2.5 million) can count toward the annual revenue-sharing cap, expected to begin at or around $21.5 million.

For some elite power programs, the total cost of both the scholarship additions and the sharing of revenue with athletes will exceed $30 million annually. To maintain compliance with the federal Title IX law, any scholarship increases in a men’s sport will likely need to be replicated in a women’s sport, driving up the additional costs.

But not all programs can afford to add so many additional scholarships. Some administrators are in the process of “tiering” their sports by decreasing investment on certain programs and increasing investment in others. This includes staff and salary cuts as well as the reduction in scholarships from Olympic sports, especially those that generate little to no revenue."

 

[GMUgemini]

Anyone have insight into other sports such as mens soccer?

I could be wrong, but Mens College Soccer were forced to reduce their roster spots to 26 from 33. While they only recieved 9.5 scholarships before, I heard that drops to 8. Considering the poor growth and development of USA Soccer, its mind blowing they would do this to mens college soccer.

College soccer has now become the third/fourth tier of development for U.S. Soccer. The best players will go straight to Europe (e.g. Christian Pulisic), the next tier will get MLS pro contracts (e.g. Tyler Adams), and then if that doesn’t work out the next tier will either go to college or the USL and try to develop there. For the MLS, the college draft has become largely an afterthought and very few long-term players in MLS are drafted out of college (many college players are also academy players and sign with their academy teams even if they do go to college: e.g. Donovan Pines, who signed with D.C United instead of entering the draft—he’s currently with newly promoted Barnsley in England).

 

[Pablo]

I assume that most posters are too young to know that the maximum men's basketball scholarships used to be 15 - https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/10/sports/ncaa-cuts-practice-scholarships-and-seasons.html

"Division I basketball teams will have their scholarships reduced from 15 to 14 during the 1992-93 academic year and to 13 during the 1993-94 academic year."

This reduction benefited mid-major programs as there were less scholarship opportunities at the power conference schools. It should be interesting to see how this increase in basketball scholarships impacts the competitiveness of mid-major programs vs. power conference schools given the other changes in recent years.

 

[jessej]

I assume that most posters are too young to know that the maximum men's basketball scholarships used to be 15 - https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/10/sports/ncaa-cuts-practice-scholarships-and-seasons.html

"Division I basketball teams will have their scholarships reduced from 15 to 14 during the 1992-93 academic year and to 13 during the 1993-94 academic year."

This reduction benefited mid-major programs as there were less scholarship opportunities at the power conference schools. It should be interesting to see how this increase in basketball scholarships impacts the competitiveness of mid-major programs vs. power conference schools given the other changes in recent years.

Something similar occurred in college football even further back. There were regional college football powerhouses and with the large scholarship allowance the motto was "you may not play for me, but i can be assured that you wont play against me". Coupled with the limited transfer rules those colleges locked up most of the talent as they had second and third string players who would be starters at other programs.

 

[Falco]

NFL teams have 53 active players and 16 practice squad players. Why do college football teams need a 105-man roster?

 

[jessej]

NFL teams have 53 active players and 16 practice squad players. Why do college football teams need a 105-man roster?

Depth - Development, training and practice squads - Limited number of team offer Junior Varsity programs
Training- NFL training is done in college
Income - as non-scholarship players pay tuition - or at least their financial aid payments accrue to the University

 

[GMUgemini]

Depth - Development, training and practice squads - Limited number of team offer Junior Varsity programs
Training- NFL training is done in college
Income - as non-scholarship players pay tuition - or at least their financial aid payments accrue to the University

You can do that with 60-70 players though, especially when you consider the number of teams there are.

But I’m pretty sure the scholarship expansion has a lot to do with walk-ons and NIL and there were some saying they’d have to eliminate walk-ons, so they’re basically eliminating them by adding scholarships to the end of rosters in football and basketball.

 

[Falco]

​

Ross Dellenger
@RossDellenger

On Tuesday, commissioners finalized roster limits that’ll be filed Friday in House settlement, sources tell
@YahooSports:

football 105
M/W basketball 15
baseball 34
softball 25
volleyball 18

Schools can offer scholarships to full rosters starting 2025-26


Sources: NCAA to increase scholarships for sports, with football getting roster limit of 105 players

From sports.yahoo.com

12:46 PM · Jul 24, 2024

"As part of the new revenue-sharing model — beginning in 2025-26 academic year — by-sport scholarship restrictions are eliminated, and schools are permitted to offer scholarships to the entirety of their rosters. The new roster limit figures are not final until the approval of House settlement terms."

"Football, with a current scholarship restriction of 85, will now have a roster limit of 105 — a 20-scholarship increase for those schools willing to give the maximum. In an important note for football, the 105 may not be a requirement until the start of the competitive season, giving coaches flexibility to go beyond that figure during preseason camp, for instance.

Baseball, with a current scholarship restriction of 11.7, is expected to have a roster of 34. Scholarship spots for softball and volleyball, each currently at 12, will increase to 25 and 18, respectively.

In all, more than 60 additional scholarships are available for distribution in those five sports. As they do now, schools are not required to distribute scholarships to each player. For instance, many schools are unlikely to use a full 34 scholarships for baseball, choosing instead to offer grants to only a portion of its roster and leave walk-on opportunities.

The new roster figures are expected to be included in the long-form agreement in the landmark settlement of three antitrust cases, including the House v. NCAA lawsuit. The agreement is expected to be filed Friday with details on the distribution of the $2.77 billion in back pay to former athletes as well as particulars of the new revenue-sharing model permitting schools to distribute upwards of $20-plus million annually.

The details around roster sizes of other sports — many of which will see increases in scholarship slots — are expected in the document. No sport will see a reduction in scholarship spots, according to plaintiff attorneys. As part of the agreement, roster limits must be set at or more than current scholarship restriction for each sport.

Another key change to the scholarship structure: All sports will be considered 'equivalency sports,' meaning partial scholarships can be distributed to players. Football, basketball and other sports are currently considered 'head-count sports,' which require players on scholarship to receive a full grant."

I like the intent behind increasing the number of athletic scholarships. However, I think we might see schools stop funding certain programs altogether. It’s already challenging for some sports to turn a profit, and this change could make the landscape even more competitive. Instead of offering more scholarships, some schools might choose to discontinue programs.