GARDEN CITY, NY — The recent $2.8 billion NCAA settlement could fundamentally reshape college sports—and finally put money in the pockets of student-athletes. That’s the analysis from sports law attorney Andrew Sack of The Law Offices of Steven Mitchell Sack, who says the court-approved deal ends decades of unpaid labor under the guise of amateurism.
“This is a seismic shift,” Sack said. “For the first time ever, colleges can directly pay athletes for the billions they generate through their names, images, and likenesses. This isn’t just a win—it’s a complete transformation of the student-athlete model.”
The settlement, approved by a federal judge, resolves multiple antitrust lawsuits and will compensate athletes retroactively dating back to 2016. It also establishes a new path forward, allowing schools to share media and broadcast revenues with athletes who previously saw none of those profits.
Though the NCAA continues to deny any wrongdoing, Sack says the message is clear: “The era of free labor in college athletics is over. Schools can no longer profit off athletes without sharing the wealth.”
As media rights deals and NIL collectives evolve, Sack predicts this landmark decision will ripple across every major program—and change the recruiting landscape permanently.
“This isn’t the end of the conversation,” he added. “It’s the beginning of a new era.”
Mr. Sack has a legal background in the sports industry which he brought to the firm as a new practice area. He teaches both Bachelor’s- and Master’s-level sports law courses at LIU Post which entail the legal and ethical issues, sports marketing and management and the business of sports, such as Sports Law, Legal and Ethical Issues in Sport, Sports Marketing, Legal Aspects of Business Administration, and Principles of Management.

For more information, call Mr. Sack at (516) 526-3319 or The Law Offices of Steven Mitchell Sack at (917) 371-8000.

###