Sunday, June 15th 2025, 11:33 am
On this week’s edition of Hot Seat, sports agent and attorney Kelli Masters joined political analyst Scott Mitchell to break down the sweeping changes reshaping college athletics, including the historic House v. NCAA settlement, revenue sharing, NIL rules, and the future legal status of student-athletes.
Masters, an expert on athlete representation and a University of Oklahoma graduate, offered perspective on how the legal groundwork for these changes was laid decades ago, starting with a landmark 1983 lawsuit filed by OU’s Board of Regents that challenged NCAA broadcast restrictions and opened the door to today’s multibillion-dollar college sports media market.
At the center of the current transformation is House v. NCAA, a federal case that resulted in a settlement now allowing schools to directly compensate student-athletes. Under the agreement, each Division I school will have a salary cap of roughly $20 million to distribute among athletes, with an additional $2.8 billion allocated for retroactive payouts to players dating back to 2016.
Masters explained that college athletics is transforming. The conversation has moved beyond name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals and into a broader debate about direct revenue sharing, the implementation of salary caps, and whether student-athletes should legally be considered employees.
Masters noted that while the NCAA has attempted to issue guidance, particularly prohibiting NIL deals from being used as recruitment tools, its enforcement capacity is weak. Booster collectives have already taken a dominant role, pooling funds to attract talent in what many describe as a “pay-to-play” environment.
“Boosters have been paying players under the table for years,” Masters said. "Suddenly, it's a free-for-all, and that's when we started to see the birth of booster collectives starting to pool their money."
A new Collegiate Sports Commission has been created to regulate these developments, along with a contract clearinghouse managed by Deloitte. But Masters expressed skepticism about their effectiveness, especially given the control exerted by powerful conferences.
Title IX compliance has already prompted lawsuits over which sports receive revenue. The University of Oklahoma recently released its list of sports included in revenue sharing, prompting concern over gaps in funding for many women’s teams.
“What are the impacts of Title IX?” Masters asked. “I feel like we've got a huge can of worms now that's opened with how this is gonna be applied.”
The status of athletes as employees is unresolved as well. While current rules still treat them as students receiving scholarships, their obligations often mirror those of full-time workers. If courts or Congress ultimately define them as employees, it could open the door to unionization, collective bargaining, workers' compensation, and more.
Masters warned that while the settlement is meant to bring structure, it may instead lead to more chaos in the short term. Without guardrails like free agency rules, arbitration processes, or contract standards, the college sports landscape remains a volatile legal frontier.
When asked if it was the Wild West again, Masters responded, "It is."
She also raised concerns about the financial literacy and support provided to young athletes now earning six- and seven-figure incomes, many of whom are unaware of tax obligations or how to navigate contracts.
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