As the final details of the $2.8 billion settlement from the NCAA vs. House lawsuit come into focus, college administrators nationwide are still trying to understand how the impending revenue-sharing program will impact their specific institutions.
Little was known when the Power Five institutions (now Power Four with the dissolution of the Pac-12) agreed to the settlement, except they would be responsible for paying athletes 22% of the average school’s revenue.
For UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir, it’s an ever-changing landscape.
“I’ve been an AD for over a decade, and college athletics changed significantly during that time,” he recently told the Sentinel. “But we’re going to embrace it. There are a lot of great stories to be told with this new revenue-sharing opportunity for student-athletes.
“This school, this athletic department, will still maintain our core principles, which will be at the top of our mind every day when we decide on education opportunities and maintaining those education opportunities in life after college.”
Mohajir stresses that despite changing times, the core values of college athletics must remain.
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“Getting your degree, getting a job, providing championship-caliber services on and off the field will be paramount as we make decisions,” he added. “That’s not going to change with me.
“There are a lot of details that will come over the next six or seven months, but we’re ready for the challenge.”
It’s estimated that athletic departments could pay their athletes anywhere from $15 million to $22 million annually, with those figures increasing over the 10 years of the settlement. The annual figure could increase based on the department’s revenue.
Each school can determine how much they choose to offer and what factor is used to determine how much each athlete receives.
“We don’t know what that number is,” said Mohajir. “We’re going to have a cap, and every FBS school, whether your Group of Five or Power Four, will be beholden to that cap.”
Each school determines where the money for the plan comes from. Funding is based on revenue from media rights, ticket sales and sponsorship deals — not donations.
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As part of its membership deal with the Big 12, UCF receives just a half share of revenue ($18 million in 2023-24, $19 million for 2024-25) for its first two seasons before it begins receiving a full payment in 2025-26. Full members received $34.8 million in distribution this fiscal year.
“We’ll be a part of that even though we’re not getting Power Four money right now because we’re in the Power Four,” Mohajir said. “We’ll have to pay the damages like the rest of the Power Four.”
The Big 12 is reportedly considering an offer from a private equity firm that would provide the league with anywhere from $800 million to $1 billion of cash in exchange for a 15% to 20% stake in the league.
The deal would boost the conference’s overall revenue stream closer to that of the Big Ten, which pays its school approximately $75 million annually.
Until then, UCF is planning for the immediate future.
The additional $16.8 million of conference distribution that UCF should begin receiving in 2025-26 will be earmarked for increases in operational costs, including a minimum $10 million placeholder for revenue sharing and additional costs associated with the new NCAA model.
When asked if the impending costs could force schools to cut sports, Mohajir remained emphatic that UCF would do everything possible to avoid that.
“Our school will do everything we can to maintain our sports and scholarships and do whatever we can to fund them at the maximum level. That’s our goal,” he said.
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He also reiterated that he had no plans to slow down athletic facilities projects, such as the ongoing football campus, which includes renovations to the Roth Tower on FBC Mortgage Stadium and the Sharon & Marc Hagle Gateway.
“We have recruits comparing our facilities to other schools,” said Mohajir.
Another part of the settlement reportedly being discussed is the elimination of scholarship caps, with schools seeking roster limits for their sports teams.
“My understanding from the direction that it’s going is your roster maximums are going to dictate your scholarship funding models,” Mohajir said. “My hope and wish is that we don’t penalize the sports that generate the lion’s share of the dollars.”
Nobody is sure at this point what the roster maximums could be, but the NCAA mandates that schools can offer a maximum of 85 scholarships for football. With walk-ons and such, the typical roster of a Football Bowl Subdivision football program — particularly at the Power Four level — can grow as large as 120 players in any given year.
However, there has been much discussion recently about setting an 85-man limit in football.
Some proponents, citing the NFL’s 53-man rosters, believe this move would benefit the sport, but Mohajir disagrees.
“That’s a failing argument. The NFL is not a 53-man roster. It’s an infinite roster,” he said. “They can get players anytime, any place. If you lose a player, you can get one off of waivers. They have to maintain a certain roster.
“We learned from the COVID [season] that if you lose players to sickness or injury, you can lose whole position groups. But we’ll learn to adapt.”
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Adapting is something coach Gus Malzahn has had to do over the years, particularly in the NIL era.
“I don’t know if anybody knows exactly what the future holds,” Malzahn said. “How many changes have we had in the year and a half? It’s been more than in the last 50 [years], so it’s just the mindset of what we must do right now. I’m focused on nothing but this season and doing everything I can to help this team win.
“We’ll cross that bridge when it happens.”
Still, Mohajir hopes the core principles of college athletics aren’t lost.
“I got into this because I love the idea of what college athletics has done for me, my friends, former teammates and hundreds of thousands of young people across the country,” he said. “Besides the G.I. Bill, there’s never been a scholarship program to help the youth of America than intercollegiate athletics.
“Helping people break that cycle, get a degree and have a career … maintaining the opportunities that we currently have is top of mind for us.”
Matt Murschel can be reached at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com
