Fighting Ever Fighting is much more than just the new world of revenue sharing. Though that catches the headlines, it goes far beyond that. The core mission of what we do has not changed. We want to provide the best collegiate experience, in competition and in the classroom, for our student-athletes when they come to K-State. We want to put our student-athletes in a position to compete for championships. Teams that make our fans proud. Fighting ever Fighting is also about the new opportunities we are providing our student-athletes through additional scholarships; the importance of the economic impact K-State Athletics provides to the city, region and state, the role athletics plays in higher education when it comes to publicity and potential increases in enrollment. Whether you are a long-time supporter, or first-time giver, it takes a collective effort. Your support to the Ahearn Fund is more important than ever.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The recent court settlement in the House vs. NCAA class action lawsuit, which allows athletics department to share revenues with student-athletes for use of their name, image, and likeness, signals a transformative era in college athletics. Beyond revenue sharing, the settlement will also provide new scholarship opportunities, as well as changes to roster limits. This historic settlement will have a monumental impact on college athletics, leveling the NIL playing field by creating a new structure with a uniform spending cap across all Power 4 institutions.
WHAT CHANGES WITH THE SETTLEMENT?
- Schools are now able to share in athletic department revenue to pay student-athletes for use of their name, image and likeness. This is commonly referred to as 'rev share'. This shared revenue will be capped each year, with the first year starting at $20.5M for the 2025-26 Athletics year. This cap will automatically increase by 4% each year, with a recalculation every 3 years. At K-State, rev share money will be distributed proportionally throughout all athletic teams based on revenue generated. All 16 of K-State Athletics programs will receive rev share. This is unique to K-State as many athletic departments are only providing rev share to their revenue producing sports.
- Each team will now have roster limits instead of scholarship limits. Initial loss of opportunities taken from current student-athletes through roster limits will be grandfathered in. With the absence of scholarship limits, K-State will be adding 27 new scholarship opportunities, totaling approximately $1M, that then allows us to allocate $19.5 million to student-athlete rev share. Of the 27 scholarships, a majority of those will go to our women's programs.
- The settlement also factors in back payments for student-athletes that missed the opportunity to capitalize on NIL who participated from 2016-2022. Total back payment equates to $2.8 Billion. K-State will lose approximately $1M a year for the next 10 years from NCAA distributions to help pay that.
WHERE DOES THE $20.5M REV SHARE COME FROM?
- It is up to each school to fund revenue sharing up to the cap through internal revenue sources such as ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, and Ahearn Fund donations.
- NCAA funds will not pay for revenue sharing.
- It can be viewed as an additional $20.5M+ (and increasing) line item to the K-State Athletics budget, roughly a 20% increase.
CAN STUDENT-ATHLETES STILL MAKE MONEY THROUGH NIL?
- Student-athletes will still have an opportunity to partner with businesses to help promote said business through the use of the student-athletes name, image, and likeness.
- Deals valued over $600 must be submitted to the NIL Go clearing house and must meet strict requirements regarding a range of compensation and true business purposes.
- K-State Athletics will still partner and support Wildcat NIL for true third-party NIL. To support Wildcat NIL click here.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO K-STATE?
K-State Athletics has committed to fully funding the revenue sharing to remain competitive across the national landscape. By remaining competitive in this new era, we will continue to enhance our community through the robust economic impact to Manhattan and the state of Kansas. College athletics will continue to evolve and by investing in our future we will align K-State with the best in the nation.
POWERED BY YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT
K-State fans are the best in the nation. Keep showing up. Keep supporting. We need you now more than ever. Whether it’s giving to the Ahearn Fund, partnering in NIL, or simply engaging with our student-athletes on social media, every action matters. With $20.5 million in new costs and no extra NCAA funding, your support fuels our fight. This is a new era. We will stay true to who we are, compete the right way, and keep building champions on the field, in the classroom, and in life.
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