How will NCAA Settlement Impact UCLA?

An historic House ruling is going to usher in a new era of college football; and it may impact UCLA's program for the better over time.

Universities will now be able to directly share revenue with their student-athletes rather than athletes just making all their money for their names, images and likenesses through NIL collectives and outside deals.

The new ruling is great news for student-athletes, as the revenue that they are responsible for will be rewarded to them through the university for the first time in history. Starting July 1, revenue can be distributed among athletes.

How will this impact UCLA?

Some may think that this ruling will only favor the powerhouse football programs in the country. The Ohio States, Georgias, Alabamas, even USCs of the world. But here's why this is a great opportunity for the Bruins football program to take the next step.

There is a limit to the amount of revenue that can be distributed among athletes -- $20.5 million that will increase annually -- and UCLA has already made it clear that it will use up every single dime.

UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond stressed shared his pleasure with the ruling and how it is of paramount importance that he rewards his athletes in full.

“This is a pivotal moment in collegiate athletics, and we have to continue to invest in our athletics program to compete at the highest level,” Jarmond told the LA Times. “That’s why student-athletes come to UCLA, to get the best education and compete at the highest level, and we must invest in our student-athletes to provide that championship-level experience.”

UCLA being able to compensate it's athletes to their full potentials is appealing enough, never mind the seemingly infinite amount of opportunities around the Los Angeles area for those athletes to further monetize their names, images and likenesses.

Per the settlement, NIL deals for athletes that exceed $600 must be approved NIL Go, a creation of the College Sports Commission to ensure that deals are serving actual business purposes.

This is huge news for UCLA after joining a powerhouse Big Ten Conference that is filled with programs that have been able to widen the gap in the NIL era with their richer collective groups. An essential salary cap has been applied to all universities and students now have similar opportunities for monetization in and out of athletic programs as profesisonal athletes.

Los Angeles' market and UCLA's outright culture shift under second-year head coach DeShaun Foster could attract bigger prospects in the future. It already has as Foster and the Bruins recently landed their highest-rated recruit in the coach's tenure, four-star offensive lineman Micah Smith.

UCLA seems well-positioned in this new historic era of college football.