Non-football colleges to foot the bill for so-called name, image, likeness gridiron costs

Belmont University. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Belmont and Lipscomb universities in Nashville don’t field football teams, but both could still lose up to $3 million over the next decade as part of an NCAA settlement to make so-called NIL payments, mainly to former college football players.

The two colleges are best known for the Battle of the Boulevard, a basketball matchup of the two schools located less than three miles apart on Belmont Boulevard. Yet since moving to the NCAA from NAIA competition over the last 25 years, they’ve made a journey that could wind up bringing a bit of a penalty.

“That’s a tough pill to swallow, but at the same time, we are a Division I member, and if this is the hand we’re dealt, we’ve gotta deal with it,” Belmont Athletics Director Scott Corley says.

As part of the settlement between three groups and the NCAA over the use of former players’ name, image and likeness, or NIL, former athletes will be compensated based on their estimated earning power for the last 10 years, and universities will be able to start sharing revenue with student-athletes.

Belmont and Lipscomb haven’t decided how to handle revenue sharing yet, in part because they don’t have the steady stream of money coming in as top-tier football colleges such as the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, whose former football players are likely to benefit more than any other program’s student-athletes in the state.

“It was difficult to know we were impacted to help compensate football players,” says Corley, a former Belmont basketball player under Hall of Fame coach Rick Byrd in NAIA competition before the university moved to NCAA Division I play.

‘Not a lot of choice in the matter’

Lipscomb Athletics Director Phillip Hutcheson takes a similar perspective.

“Nobody is happy … about having to come up with additional revenue or cut expenses to pay for the settlement, but really (there’s) not a lot of choice in the matter,” Hutcheson says.

As a member of NCAA Division I after decades at the NAIA level, Lipscomb remains a basketball-centric school. The late Don Meyer coached Lipscomb to the NAIA national championship in 1986 and had the Bisons ranked consistently at the top when Hutcheson played there in the late 1980s.

Yet even without a football program, Lipscomb, similarly to Belmont, will be forced to pay NCAA money to former football players across the country.

Belmont and Lipscomb will drop about $250,000 to $300,000 in NCAA revenue sharing annually over the next decade, according to the athletic directors, part of a $280 million annual distribution.

On the other hand, Hutcheson points out the settlement plan clears up some questions around legal action focused on name, image and likeness, a new method for compensating student-athletes that is roiling college sports with questions about methods for paying players and constant shifting of team rosters through the transfer portal.

“There is some value in reducing the uncertainty for the next 10 years about what the state of the union is for the NCAA and tournaments,” Hutcheson says.

Access to championships and participating in the NCAA is important to the university, he adds.

Back damages, increased revenues

The settlement in a California federal court resolves three class-action lawsuits involving name, image and likeness, requiring back damages of $2.78 billion to be paid over 10 years to former student-athletes — an estimated 75% going to football players.

The settlement proposal revolves mainly around the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12 and Southeastern Conference, but former Belmont and Lipscomb athletes could be due back damages for the last 10 years. The amounts, which would be based on skill level and revenue impact, are unclear.

The settlement also allows all participating NCAA schools such as Belmont and Lipscomb to start sharing revenue with student-athletes. It’s unclear whether the two universities will take that step and, if so, to what degree.

Finding money to replace revenue loss could require the universities to seek out deep-pocketed boosters and more business sponsors.

TV revenue is much lower for universities such as Lipscomb, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, than for SEC, ACC and Big Ten programs. Belmont moved to the Missouri Valley Conference two years ago after stints in the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley conferences.

Will donors pick up the tab

Tuition at Belmont and Lipscomb is not expected to increase because of the financial implications. But aside from donations and sponsorships, ticket prices could go up and cost-cutting measures might be necessary to offset the funding cut.

Because of antitrust concerns, scholarship limits are being eliminated in all sports in favor of roster limits, allowing universities the discretion to offer partial and full scholarships as long as they don’t exceed roster limits.

For example, the roster limit for baseball was 35, with a limited number of scholarships. But under the settlement, universities could offer scholarships to all 35.

Likewise, football is moving to 105 from 85 scholarships, and men’s basketball is jumping to 15 from 13.

“Now you have the flexibility to offer a lot more financial aid, which, again, the Power 5 schools, with their resources, have more opportunity to share more scholarships, which should give them a better roster,” Corley says.

Sponsorships on football fields are more likely, too, at the highest levels. For instance, the University of Tennessee and Pilot Co. recently entered a 20-year partnership that makes the company the “presenting partner” for Neyland Stadium and Shields-Watkins Field in Knoxville. Terms for the deal remain undisclosed, though it’s no secret that “Big Jim” Haslam, the founder of Pilot convenience stores, played football at UT for Gen. Bob Neyland and remains a key booster for the Volunteers program.

Jersey advertising at the collegiate level is likely as well, even though most team uniforms already sport logos of the outfitting companies.

Only the beginning?

Title IX, the federal law requiring equity between men’s and women’s sports, is not addressed in the settlement, but Corley believes it is “one of the biggest questions” remaining for the NCAA and universities to resolve. Since the large majority of the back damages is going to football players, the question will be whether that is targeted to equalize the field for women athletes who don’t play football.

And for future revenue sharing, questions could be raised that force universities to do more for women’s sports to offset any imbalance.

For example, based on the settlement plan, men’s basketball players draw more money than women’s basketball players.

Even this court battle might not be finished. The U.S. District Court judge hasn’t signed off on the settlement, and at least one school, Houston Christian University, has challenged the outcome, saying it suffered harm because it wasn’t fairly represented in the settlement discussions.

“I do think there are schools out there questioning how fair this process was,” Corley says.

But, for now, Belmont and Lipscomb plan to review the settlement and set a strategy to tip it up.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tennessee Lookout Senior Reporter Sam Stockard is a graduate and former basketball player at Belmont University.