In a thunderclap ruling destined to redefine the rules of college athletics, a California federal judge gave final approval Friday to the NCAA’s $2.78 billion class action settlement—a sweeping agreement that cracks open the door to direct revenue sharing with student-athletes for the first time in history.
Judge Wilken’s Gavel Ends an Era
The long-anticipated approval came from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, who signed off on the landmark deal nearly two months after a tense final hearing. Describing the transformation as unprecedented, she wrote in her 76-page opinion that the settlement “permits levels and types of student-athlete compensation that have never been allowed in the history of college sports.”
With just a “very small fraction” of class members objecting, Judge Wilken highlighted widespread support among the 184,000 current and former athletes impacted by the agreement. “This is a sea change,” she wrote—one that turns decades of amateurism into relics of a bygone age.
