Judge Delays Antitrust Settlement Approval Over Roster Limits

The NCAA and attorneys for plaintiff student athletes have 14 days to change the roster limit terms in the House v. NCAA settlement or the judge will deny its approval.

This is the latest ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken in the landmark $2.8 billion antitrust case that is set to transform college athletics and compensation for student athletes. 

On Wednesday, Wilken gave the settlement preliminary approval, but she said it is contingent on changes to roster limit terms. She said the current proposal would harm a significant number of existing Division I athletes and those who have already been removed from rosters at colleges that have capped their numbers in anticipation of the settlement’s approval. 

The NCAA argued that Wilken’s suggestion to phase in the limits or grandfather the affected athletes would cause too much disruption for colleges already implementing the caps.  

In the order issued on April 23, Wilken said this argument “is not a valid reason for approval of the agreement in its current form.”

“Any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA members schools’ own making. The fact that the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreement should not have been interpreted as an indication that it was certain that the Court would grant final approval.”

The proposed roster limits in the current settlement include 105 players for football, 15 for men’s and women’s basketball, 34 for baseball, and 28 for men’s and women’s soccer. Critics of the terms say it would end the possibilities for walk-on athletes and hit programs that feed into Olympic sports teams.