SEC commissioner Greg Sankey (above), one of the most powerful people in college sports, shared an optimistic outlook about the swiftly shifting landscape ahead of the conference’s spring meetings, which begin Tuesday. Speaking with reporters Monday night, Sankey called for a national standard following last week’s $2.75 billion settlement in House v. NCAA.

The landmark settlement facilitates an agreement for power conference schools to share revenue with players for the first time in NCAA history—an agreement that could start as early as 2025. The NCAA is hoping, however, that it won’t have to make any more concessions beyond the reforms outlined in the settlement, Front Office Sports college reporter Amanda Christovich notes. It’s asking Congress to step in and protect it from more lawsuits, and settle questions like whether athletes should be employees. 

“Congress has still an opportunity to use the structure of this settlement to enact legislation to strengthen the future of college sports,” he said. However, Sankey admitted the future is still unpredictable. “The breadth of the settlement is intended to give us a path forward, provide a level of clarity about the future that doesn’t embed employment automatically,” he added. (Sankey and the rest of the power conferences are strongly opposed to athletes being deemed employees.)

By the Numbers

To pay the players, administrators have said they’re looking for new revenue streams. (Private equity could be one of them.) But multiple conferences hit record revenues in the 2023 fiscal year. Here’s how much money each conference generated and the average payout per school, according to figures from USA Today:

• Big Ten: $880 million ($60.5 million)
• SEC: $852.6 million ($51.3 million)
• ACC: $707 million ($44.8 million)
• Pac-12: $603.9 million ($33.6 million)
• Big 12: $510.7 million ($44.2 million)

The Big Ten and SEC are primed to continue separating themselves with the most lucrative media deals and expansion to 18 and 16 teams, respectively. The ACC, despite expansion of its own, remains locked in to a far less valuable media contract, with the Big 12 on pace to become the third-highest revenue-generating conference in the country. The Pac-12 will continue to exist as a two-member conference.

The prospect of a European Super League taking form has received further legal support through a new ruling in a Spanish court. But the highly debated venture remains shrouded in uncertainty.

The Madrid Commercial Court No. 17 ruled on Monday that FIFA and UEFA must cease any “anti-competitive conduct” that would preclude the formation of rival, pan-European leagues such as the ESL, and that the two governing bodies “have abused their dominant position … and are preventing free competition in the market by imposing unjustified and disproportionate restrictions” on clubs. 

The decision follows a similar ruling in December by the European Court of Justice. Described as the first application of the legal framework of that prior case, the decision is enforceable across the European Union.

“The era of the monopoly is now definitely over,” said Bernd Reichart, chief executive of A22 Sports Management, a company formed to aid the development of the ESL and the entity that brought the case against UEFA, FIFA, LaLiga, and the Spanish soccer federation. “We look forward to continuing our dialogue with clubs of all sizes to improve club football at [the] international level to make it more accessible and compelling for fans.”

But not so fast, say FIFA and UEFA. Despite the apparent victory for the prospect of the ESL, the two organizations said the ruling does not explicitly endorse the formation of the new league. The Premier League is not subject to the ruling due to the U.K.’s Brexit move to leave the European Union. 

“The court has not given the green light to, nor has it approved, projects like the Super League,” UEFA said. “In fact, [Judge Sofía Gil García] has asserted that the Super League project has long been abandoned and that she cannot be expected to rule on any abstract projects.”

A New Day for FIFA, UEFA

Both FIFA and UEFA, however, have something of a history of asserting success even in the face of adverse developments, such as EA Sports’ departure as a major FIFA commercial licensee. The video game developer successfully created its own soccer game franchise, despite FIFA’s strident claim in 2022 that the “only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans.”

FIFA also has been forced to adjust to a new commercial reality elsewhere, as a recent legal settlement is likely to help enable European pro leagues playing regular-season matches outside of their home territories—something FIFA previously resisted.