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NCAA president Charlie Baker expressed optimism that the upcoming House v. NCAA court settlement will help create a "saner" landscape in the coming months. In an interview with CBS Evening News, Baker extolled the virtues of the upcoming revenue sharing model and how it could help realign college sports. 

"I do believe the settlement will create a much saner way of doing this than the way it works now," Baker told co-anchor Maurice DuBois. "And I hope that what we get out of it is an NIL program that's more transparent, more accountable and one that actually works on this idea that this is still a development exercise for young people." 

The past four years have been a transformational time in college athletics ... and not always for the best. Name, image and likeness was formally approved in 2021, but the NCAA has lost almost every lawsuit to regulate player compensation. The organization also lost lawsuits that prevented them from creating any rules to limit transfers, leading to essentially open free agency every season. 

Walk-on players are invaluable to college football, but House v. NCAA settlement provides uncertain future
Dennis Dodd
Walk-on players are invaluable to college football, but House v. NCAA settlement provides uncertain future

The lawsuit settlement is expected to distribute nearly $3 billion in damages to former athletes. It will also allow universities to share more than $20 million in revenue with active athletes, though the guidelines around the revenue share remain up in the air. The direct payment system is set to replace a broken NIL system that funnels money from boosters and supporters to players through third-party collectives. 

"Having the school be a primary relationship for a student-athlete around their name, image and likeness is a better way to do it than having these third parties that are kind of shadowy and invisible, which is what we have now," Baker said. 

The House v. NCAA settlement received preliminary approval in October and faces final approval on April 7, the day of the NCAA men's basketball national championship. More than a dozen objections have been filed, but it's unclear whether any will ultimately delay the approval. 

If the lawsuit is finalized as expected, the revenue sharing era in college athletics will begin on July 1.