Roster Size Limits Get Loosened in $2.8 Billion NCAA Deal (1)

The NCAA and athlete plaintiffs submitted revisions Wednesday to a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement proposal, offering to exempt some Division I athletes from roster limits to help satisfy conditions by a federal judge.

“Any athlete who would have lost their roster spot (or a promised roster spot) for the 2025-2026 academic year due to the immediate implementation of roster limits will be exempt from any roster limits at any Division I institution, for the duration of their college athletics careers” under the revised settlement, court documents say.

The restrictions wouldn’t apply, for example, to a college sophomore this year who was told by a member institution that she would be removed from a roster. That student would keep her spot during her junior and senior years.

Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for the plaintiffs and a partner with Winston & Strawn LLP, said the same protection would be given to incoming athletes from high school who were promised roster spots for 2025-26 and then told that they would not receive them because of the limits.

“With this change, we believe the Court will now be able to quickly approve” the deals “so that tens of billions of dollars in new payments and benefits can be provided to class members over the next ten years,” Kessler said.

The NCAA said in its supplemental brief, also filed Wednesday, that the modifications eliminate “beyond any doubt, any remaining question as to whether the settlement is fair and reasonable” for class members.

Judge Claudia Wilken of the US District Court of the Northern District of California on April 23 had given the NCAA 14 days to address her concerns on a roster limits provision that would have caused some current class members to lose their spots on college teams.

Wilken threatened to send the case to trial if her conditions weren’t met, potentially upending a settlement announced last year between NCAA and the one-time “Power Five” conferences to settle claims the organization prohibited student-athletes from being paid for their name, image, and likeness. Wilken could still reject the deal or order further revisions.

Under the deal, the NCAA and the conferences plan to pay $2.75 billion in back damages over 10 years to thousands of Division I athletes who played since 2016.

Wilken preliminarily approved the settlement last year but at an April 7 hearing she sparred with the NCAA over the issue of roster spots.

The proposed settlement would allow more athlete scholarships but limit the number of spots on a team. The NCAA has argued for limits on rosters because spots aren’t currently guaranteed and restricting them would open the door to limitless additional scholarships.

Wilken suggested in her April 23 order that the NCAA could phase in the limits over time to ensure current class members who have roster spots won’t lose them as a result of the immediate implementation of the settlement agreement.

“Limits could be accomplished gradually by attrition,” she said.

Kessler said in an interview late Wednesday that he believes the modifications offered are better than phasing in the limits and that Wilken will rule within days on final approval.

Loosening the roster limits was not something the NCAA wanted to do but knew it had to change in order to comply with what the judge stated, he said.

“We as class counsel did everything we could to make sure that the deal would be as comprehensive, as expansive, as it could be,” Kessler said. “Given what the judge wrote in her prior opinion, I believe all of her concerns have been addressed so she will now approve it.”

The NCAA is represented by Wilkinson Stekloff LLP and ArentFox Schiff. The plaintiffs are also represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The case is In re College Athlete NIL Litig., N.D. Cal., No. 4:20-cv-03919, 5/7/25.