The Money

In a prior post, we noted that July brings with it a change in the way student athletes are compensated.* From CalMatters: 

...California’s top universities can pay their athletes directly — a dramatic shift in college sports that blurs the line between amateur and professional play. Schools have yet to say how much individual students will actually make or when checks might arrive, though a CalMatters estimate suggests some student-athletes at UC Berkeley could make roughly $200,000 a year... At public universities, such as UC Berkeley or UCLA, schools could use taxpayer dollars to make these payments. State or institutional funds already support roughly 30% of UC Berkeley’s athletic budget...

UC Berkeley currently has about 900 athletes but will eventually need to cut roughly 100 players to meet the requirements of the [House legal] settlement, Chancellor Rich Lyons said in a statement on June 11. Using a mix of current revenue and new fundraising, he said the university hopes to pay $12 million to its football players, $3 million to men’s basketball players and $1 million to women’s basketball players. If UC Berkeley were to divide it evenly — which is unlikely — that means this year, each men’s basketball player would receive roughly $200,000, each football player would receive roughly $100,000 and each women’s basketball player would receive around $60,000. Lyons did not mention paying any other athletes, though they could still receive a scholarship and, if approved, certain brand deals or donations. 

UC Berkeley declined to respond to CalMatters’ questions seeking further clarification... UCLA is not saying how much it will allocate to each of its athletic teams but Athletic Director Martin Jarmond has said that the school will distribute a total of $20.5 million, the maximum yearly amount allowed...  

Some of the money for sports at California’s public universities comes from TV deals, ticket sales and parking fees, but some also comes from the college’s general fund, which is taxpayer-supported, and from fees that all students pay to their university...  

Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2025/07/college-athletes-california/.

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*https://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2025/06/tomorrow-is-money-day.html.