Colleges across Texas have been waiting patiently for the dynamics to change when it comes to athlete compensation with the approval of the House v. NCAA settlement.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave schools a jump on the new era on Thursday, when he signed HB 126.
The law went into effect immediately and allows colleges to pay athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness. The new standards in Texas line up with what is expected to take effect nationally in the next few days.
Federal judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California extended a deadline in the House case on Monday as attorneys continued to work toward a final agreement. The deadline was pushed from Friday to June 27.
Revenue sharing is expected to begin nationally on July 1 once the settlement that will set standards for revenue sharing across the country is approved. The House settlement will resolve cases against the NCAA over prohibiting college athletes from profiting from NIL from 2016 before the restriction was lifted in 2021. The settlement will provide $2.8 billion in back payments to athletes over NIL restrictions.
The change is one North Texas and other schools have been preparing for.
Texas law will now allow athletes who are 17 years and older to sign NIL deals. Pervious versions stipulated that only college athletes could sign deals to profit from their name, image and likeness.
The Texas House and Senate previously passed the Texas law, which went into effect when Abbott signed it.
The law gives precedent to NCAA and court orders over state law.
State politicians won't have to address the issue of athlete compensation moving forward due to the clause.
The new Texas law prohibits athletes from entering into NIL contracts until they are 17. The University Interscholastic League prohibits high school athletes from signing NIL contracts.
The new state law and the coming national standards are among a host of changes in college athletics the last few months that will impact UNT.
The American Athletic Conference established a $10 million minimum its schools must share with athletes over a three-year period once revenue sharing is in effect.
UNT joined the league in the summer of 2023.
The school announced last month that it is restructuring its fundraising efforts to prepare for revenue sharing as well as moving efforts to fund NIL opportunities for athletes in-house.
UNT previously had two booster-run collectives that handled NIL deals.
The school rebranded the fund it asks supporters to donate to as the Mean Green Athletic Fund. It was previously known as the Mean Green Scholarship Fund.
Donors who give to UNT athletics can now direct donations to the school's fund to cover the cost of scholarships. Those donors can also contribute to the school's new Green Lights Fund, which will support athletes' ability to profit from their name, image and likeness.
UNT athletic director Jared Mosley said the school is ready to support its athletes in a new era in an email to donors announcing the change.
Mosley expressed confidence in UNT's ability to reach the $10 million requirement in a follow-up email to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
"Our baseline total revenue share number in this first year will position us well on the path to satisfying and surpassing the $10M minimum investment over the first three years," Mosley wrote. "While revenue share and the House Settlement parameters remain fluid, the commitments to date from donors to provide support through our new Green Lights Fund and potential new revenues we are pursuing in events, concerts, and new multimedia rights assets, we are confident in our plan of revenue sharing support this first year."
Abbott signing off a law allowing revenue sharing Thursday opened the possibility of UNT executing that plan sooner.
The school has promoted its fundraising efforts and accomplishments, including posting a 60.7 winning percentage across all sports for the 2024-25 school year, to its supporters over the last few days. UNT's winning percentage ranked second in the AAC.
"The momentum we've had in the last six months to 12 months has been significant," Mosley said late in basketball season. "We've made strides there. I don't see any reason why we can't continue to build on the successes we've had this last calendar year."
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