College student-athletes received $1.8 billion in direct rev-share payments in 2025-26
The College Sports Commission announced collegiate student-athletes received nearly $1.8 billion in direct revenue-share payments from NCAA schools during the 2025-26 academic year, per College Athlete Payment System (CAPS) records. 2025-26 was the first year NCAA schools were allowed to directly pay student-athletes as part of revenue-sharing following last summer’s House v. NCAA settlement.…
During the 2025-26 academic year, college student-athletes across the nation received nearly $1.8 billion in direct revenue-share payments from their respective NCAA schools, according to records from the College Sports Commission (CSC). This marked the first time such payments were permitted under the rules established following the House v.
NCAA settlement last summer. The payments were distributed among approximately 307 schools across 33 conferences and 45 sports, benefiting around 35,000 student-athletes. The total amount of $1.77 billion in revenue-sharing payments represented nearly $1.9 billion in total distributions, with an additional $42 million allocated for Alston awards and $163 million designated for "new and incremental scholarship spending."
The CSC CEO, Bryan Seeley, highlighted that the House Settlement had led to these direct payments from schools to student-athletes, complementing the existing scholarship benefits. Yahoo! Sports insider Ross Dellenger reported that roughly 60-65 NCAA schools contributed at least $17.9 million in revenue-sharing payments, with many possibly surpassing the $20.5 million cap set by the House settlement.
The cap for the 2026-27 academic year increased to $21.58 million, becoming effective from July 1, marking the start of the current academic year.
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