The House settlement judgment brought some clarity to NIL and revenue sharing, while simultaneously opening a brand-new can of worms that has led to several lawsuits in its wake. Still, it’s a positive step toward establishing a more level playing field across the board.
Texas A&M Athletic Director Trev Alberts took time to discuss the school’s plans for navigating this new landscape in college sports. He sees opportunities to capitalize on revenue options to keep Texas A&M competitive within the Power Five conferences.
One of the biggest questions: How did they decide which sports would be included in revenue sharing?
“Part of that decision-making was in concert with our increase in scholarship, so we didn’t look at the investments into individual sports, just from rev share. Some of the sports who didn’t get rev share are obviously getting massive increases in scholarship investment….”
“….we just try to look at what sports are we driving revenue in. We need to maintain the current revenue, and how do we accelerate and advance it? So difficult decisions and those can be adjusted and altered in the future, but that’s how we chose to start can”
Alberts also touched on how the university plans to modernize without losing the traditions that make Texas A&M one of the most unique programs in college sports.
“…..I’m going to push hard on the modernization, I’m going to push hard on thinking differently, because I think if we don’t, we won’t have the business success that we need to ultimately fund the support of our programs to win.”
Even with the House settlement establishing a few guardrails, there’s a long way to go. Alberts hopes federal lawmakers will step in to create clear, enforceable rules that everyone can follow—so schools can focus less on litigation and more on supporting student-athletes.
“…we all got into this to help young people, and we’ve spent all of our time playing defense to lawsuits, and that needs to end. It’s not in the best interest. College athletics is worth saving. It’s really important to the fabric of America, we’re better than this, and it’s time for leaders to lead.”
College athletics is slowly emerging from the chaos of the NIL era with early signs of a more unified regulatory structure. But the road ahead is still long.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.
