I'm confused. The house settelment puts a cap on what the schools themselves can pay, but I thought NIL was still uncapped. How does putting a cap on NIL jibe with the unanimous Alston SCOTUS decision?
Here is what ChatGPT told me...is this wrong?
What the House settlement caps:
Schools that opt into the settlement will be allowed to pay current Division I athletes directly from school revenue—up to an annual cap.
That cap starts at $20.5 million per school for the 2025‑26 academic year and is expected to increase by about 4% annually over the next decade (potentially reaching around $33 million) uscannenbergmedia.com+15cbssports.com+156abc.com+15.
What they didn’t cap: third‑party NIL deals
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) money that athletes receive from third-party sources—such as individual endorsement deals, collectives, or boosters—is not counted against the school’s revenue-sharing cap. These deals remain unlimited in terms of the amount, as long as they reflect fair market value and serve a valid business purpose