Federal judge won’t approve House v. NCAA settlement without changes

The GIST: The NCAA encountered yet another legal setback yesterday when a federal judge refused to approve a settlement that would save the org as we know it — and change college sports forever.

The background: In May, the NCAA and the Power Four conferences voted to settle House v. NCAA, an antitrust lawsuit that threatens the NCAA’s long-challenged amateurism model. The proposed settlement would permanently alter college sports by allowing schools, among other changes, to directly share athletic department revenue with athletes.

• But that agreement isn’t binding until it’s approved by Judge Claudia Wilken, who held a preliminary hearing yesterday to consider the many settlement objections made over the past few months.

What happened: After three hours of oral arguments about the proposed settlement’s potential impact on NIL collectives, future antitrust lawsuits, Title IX and women athletes, and more, Wilken ended the hearing without granting approval. Instead, she requested that the NCAA’s legal team make changes and resubmit the settlement within three weeks.

• Summer speculation about how House would reshape college sports ran rampant as many assumed it would become the law of the land. But Wilken’s hesitation has raised concerns that it could all fall apart.

What’s next: No one truly knows. The industry’s most powerful orgs — the NCAA and the Power Four conferences — want this settlement signed, sealed, and delivered, so they’ll head back to the drawing board to figure out how to appease Wilken. In the meantime, the future of college sports hangs in the balance. No pressure.