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Tennessee to join rest of SEC in signing House settlement agreement

On3 imageby:Brent Hubbs•05/29/25•

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Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman
© Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Tennessee will join the rest of the SEC in signing the House settlement-related affiliation agreement. The agreement stats that the NIL deals will be governed through the new formed College Sports Commission if the House settlement is reached. 

Yahoo Sports Ross Dellenger tweeted out the confirmation from Chancellor Donde Plowman Thursday afternoon. 

There was debate over whether or not Tennessee would sign the agreement after Tennessee governor Bill Lee signed a law earlier this month that would have essentially prevented from the newly formed commission from having power over deals in the state of Tennessee. 

The news got the Tennessee law got the attention of many as it looked to take the teeth out of the commissions attempt to put guardrails on NIL deals. The response was that any school in the power 4 who didn’t sign the agreement would be subject to removal from their respective conference. 

Tennessee AD Danny White has stated for the last couple of month that he has “hopes” the House settlement would help in managing NIL, but certainly expressed his doubts. At the Big Orange Caravan stop in Nashville a month ago, White wondered aloud if collective bargaining was the direction college athletics needed to go. 

Two weeks ago in an interview Plowman, White did more than wonder stating that collective bargaining was the only answer to the issues surrounding college sports. 

“It’s a real issue, we could go on and on about what we need,” White said to Chancellor Donde Plowman in an interview. “But I’ll say it, we’ve got a camera on us (but) I don’t really care at this point: collective bargaining is the only solution.” 

For now, the solution appears to be the new sports commission that will form out of the House Settlement if that settlement is ever reached. 

As for Tennessee’s new state law, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said on Thursday that all 16 schools agrees to “alter or clarify” state laws that might contradict the House settlement.

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