Nick Saban: Lawsuits 'may break the NCAA and they may break college football'

Next week is a pivotal one for the NCAA. That’s when a deadline is coming to settle three landmark cases, including House v. NCAA, and documents show it could pave the way for the revenue sharing era, On3’s Eric Prisbell reported.

All told, the NCAA is facing three legal challenges. In addition to the House case, there are also the Hubbard and Carter lawsuits. The settlement would cover all three, and the sense is a new chapter is about to begin for the NCAA if it settles, leading to further sweeping changes.

When it comes to what’s next, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban said taking care of the legal battles is paramount. If they continue to mount, he argued it could spell the beginning of the end.

"The lawsuits may break college football."

Nick Saban gave his two cents on the state of NIL at the Jimmy Rane Foundation golf event. #alabamafootball #NickSaban #NIL pic.twitter.com/DotXZTT4gI

— Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) May 17, 2024

“Look, the No. 1 thing we need to do in college football, the first thing you’ve got to do is address all the lawsuits because the lawsuits may break the NCAA and they may break college football,” Saban said at the Jimmy Rain Charity Golf Banquet in Birmingham. “Aight, so that should be the first order of business. The second thing is to try to create a system that continues to allow all people who have had the opportunity to participate in college athletics – that’s male and female, Title IX.”

Saban has spoken out in support of revenue sharing multiple times since retiring from coaching in January. That includes a trip to Capitol Hill where he spoke at a roundtable hosted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and echoed a similar sentiment.

He’s in favor of athletes getting a slice of the pie. But with that, Saban argued, everybody needs to have that chance.

“Look, I’m all for the players sharing in the wealth of what’s happening in college football,” Saban said Thursday. “But it has to be a system that’s going to keep everybody having an opportunity – revenue sports as well as non-revenue sports – and hopefully, something that financially, the universities can continue to be able to operate because it works financially for the system.”

According to the two-page “basic settlement summary,” obtained by On3, the NCAA would have to pay $2.776 billion over 120 years in back damages to settle the three high-profile cases and allow schools to pay athletes up to $22 million annually. However, it’s just the first major step toward those changes as legal protection will also be necessary – raising the question of whether athletes would have to be employees and usher in the collective bargaining era.