Private equity eyes college sports; George Finn, senior transactional attorney at Rose Law Group who handles NIL deals for athletes, calls it a “transformative moment.”

Private equity keeps inching closer to college sports, and now has a bit more certainty around its modeling.

Driving the news: A federal judge on Friday approved a settlement that sets the stage for schools to pay their student-athletes.

• Each school will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue, mostly with football players. That cap is expected to rise annually.
• The settlement also provides $2.8 billion in restitution to former student-athletes, and allows schools to create mechanisms to limit the influence of outside boosters and “collectives” — although questions remain about the effectiveness and enforcement of such oversight.
• For more context, check out our Axios BFD conversation last fall with NCAA president Charlie Baker.

Read on:

George Finn, senior transactional attorney at Rose Law Group who handles NIL deals for athletes, tells RLGR: “I see this settlement as a transformative moment that brings long-overdue structure and legitimacy to student-athlete compensation, enabling sustainable growth, attracting institutional investment, and positioning the college sports industry for unprecedented innovation and opportunity.”