denying name, image and likeness deals worth $7.5 million to 18 Nebraska athletes<\/a> with compensation coming from Playfly Sports, a multimedia-rights company that partners with Nebraska. Both sides appealed to an independent arbiter, which ruled in the CSC\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n\u201cThe four commissioners spent a lot of money creating the CSC,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cThen to have two of the conferences not want to adhere to it is perplexing to me, because then, why did we spend the money? If you didn\u2019t want rules, then why did you create this entity? That\u2019s what\u2019s frustrating to me, the same people that say they want rules only want rules if they don\u2019t apply to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to numbers released by the CSC, beginning on June 11, 2025, and through April 30, 2026, it has cleared 26,556 deals worth a total value of $242.35 million. The CSC has denied 1,153 deals worth a total value of $56.17 million. Other deals, primarily from Big Ten and SEC schools, remain in limbo.<\/p>\n
Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz declined to comment about Pollard\u2019s barbs at the Big Ten, saying, \u201cI try to focus on Iowa and the Big Ten; I think that\u2019s just good practice to focus on our own groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGenerally speaking, I think the Big Ten is trying to do things the right way in the system that exists,\u201d Goetz said. \u201cWe\u2019re putting our deals in, and we all recognize that right now there\u2019s some challenges within the system that was created for a variety of reasons. So it\u2019s just a collective focus on identifying the best way to continue to support the enterprise, and that means we need a sustainable financial model.\u201d<\/p>\n
A breakaway was not discussed publicly at last week\u2019s ACC spring meetings, but administrators there voiced concerns about the way the $20.5 million revenue-sharing cap is being enforced (or, more accurately, not enforced).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if we all would have gone into the settlement with the idea that the cap wasn\u2019t really going to be the cap, we\u2019d probably feel a little bit different about it,\u201d Louisville athletic director Josh Heird said. \u201cBut I think a large majority, if not all of us, went into this settlement with the idea that the cap\u2019s the cap. The cap\u2019s not the cap. If reality deviates from your expectations, then it\u2019s difficult to reconcile those at times. I think that\u2019s what we\u2019re going through right now as an industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Big Ten athletic officials vented their own frustrations at their league meetings, which has led to concerns over governance from the NCAA and CSC. Hopes for the SCORE Act, which would have granted the NCAA antitrust exemptions to regulate outside income, were dashed when a potential U.S. House vote was scuttled Monday. Administrators wanted the SCORE Act to coincide with the landmark House settlement, which allows athletic departments to pay athletes directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe it\u2019s working today,\u201d Washington athletic director Pat Chun said. \u201cThe whole point of going into the settlement was to manage the third-party money and actually have a functional cap, and once that didn\u2019t happen, that really undermined the fundamental reason of why the settlement was going to have any chance of having durability.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Big Ten has not threatened to leave the NCAA or CSC, but it\u2019s keeping its options open.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a strong feeling to try to do everything we can, No. 1, to see what happens out of Congress and obviously support whatever comes out of that, if it does,\u201d Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. \u201cBeyond that, I would say there\u2019s definitely an effort to make certain we can really coalesce together with the other conferences and work within the governance structure that exists \u2026 but at the same time keeping everything on the table and exploring whether options we may or may not need to pivot to, depending on the outcomes of a lot of things that sometimes are out of our control.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe discussion has to start within, in our case, the Big Ten, and all the member schools of the Big Ten,\u201d Maryland athletic director Jim Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Matt Baker contributed to this report.<\/p>\n