Greg Sankey gives his view of how House settlement will impact player transfers

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is currently overseeing the conference during a time of massive change for college sports. Among the most recent changes is the House settlement.

Unsurprisingly, the House settlement came up when Sankey met with media members during the SEC’s Spring Meetings. In particular, it was asked of Sankey how he thinks the settlement could impact another change in recent years, the Transfer Portal.

“That remains to be seen,” Greg Sankey said. “It can be managed in different ways, but we’re going to walk through the settlement piece and we’ll see what that allows.”

The House Settlement comes from an anti-trust lawsuit that was brought regarding former NIL rules. The NCAA decided it was best to settle this, and not risk even larger losses in a court ruling. Among what’s included in the settlement is $2.8 billion in backpay to athletes. It is also leading to revenue sharing with athletes.

Because of this, it was asked whether contracts and potentially signing contracts with the schools could limit transferring. However, Greg Sankey wasn’t willing to give a definitive answer about what that could be for future transfers.

“We’ll see,” Sankey simply said.

According to the On3 2024 College Football Transfer Portal, 3,245 players have entered the Transfer Portal since the end of the 2023 season. That, along with NIL and now revenue sharing, has been part of a series of major changes to how college sports operate.

Despite there now being revenue sharing, it looks like NIL is going to continue. That’s, in part, because of what NIL is. It’s not a salary but money based on a player’s own name, image, and likeness. It’s not supposed to be a direct payment from money made due to athletics. On top of that, it’s the 9-0 Supreme Court ruling in the Alston case that sparked the House lawsuit.

NCAA, Power 5 conferences release statement on House settlement

Following the House settlement, the Power 5 conference joined together to release a statement on it.

“The five autonomy conferences and the NCAA agreeing to settlement terms is an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come,” the Power 5 commissioners and NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a joint statement.

“This settlement is also a road map for college sports leaders and Congress to ensure this uniquely American institution can continue to provide unmatched opportunity for millions of students. All of Division I made today’s progress possible, and we all have work to do to implement the terms of the agreement as the legal process continues. We look forward to working with our various student-athlete leadership groups to write the next chapter of college sports.”