NCAA agrees to pay $303 million to settle lawsuit from volunteer coaches

The NCAA has reached a tentative settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit from unpaid volunteer coaches, and the price tag is substantial.

If approved by a federal judge, the NCAA would pay $303 million over three years to nearly 8,000 current and former Division I coaches who alleged that the NCAA illegally denied them wages and violated antitrust law.

From August 1992 until July 2023, according to the lawsuit, the NCAA and its member schools agreed to cap the number of paid coaches for Division I schools, and each team could have one volunteer coach who would not be compensated. The lawsuit was filed in March 2023 and only covers volunteers who worked between March 17, 2019, through June 30, 2023. 

According to a letter sent by NCAA President Charlie Baker (and shared by Yahoo college football writer Ross Dellenger), the payment will come from "revenue distribution reductions, net assets, and national office contributions. NCAA revenue distributions could be negatively impacted as soon as May 2026."