Northern Kentucky University’s Board of Regents met Wednesday and approved to move forward with paying student athletes.
The new statute now makes it possible for mid-major schools to compensate student athletes directly. This is a decision that is over a century in the making, as the NCAA just made it possible recently to pay players directly and through NIL, or name, image and likeness.
This is not required for mid-major schools, who will have the option to opt in and out of this structure over the next 10 years. This must still be approved by a federal judge in April 2025 before this can be enacted.
Mid-major schools have until March 1, 2025 to make a decision on whether they will opt in or out for the upcoming 2025-2026 season—when this new structure is set to begin.
If approved, this will mean NKU will need to adhere to stricter policies on rosters and the number of players allowed to be on those rosters.
NKU Athletic Director Christina Roybal said NKU has been adhering to these proposed policies for a while and therefore, will not be negatively impacted. She added that senior athletes who are graduating will help regulate these numbers as well.
Roybal said that once these structures are in place, NKU will have a chance to recruit players from major conferences who are inevitably cut due to the team being over the roster restriction. This means NKU will have the opportunity to gain higher-ranked recruits and build upon the impressive culture set within athletics.
Roybal said this legislation is a great opportunity for NKU to “petition ourselves competitively.”
Roybal feels this benefits not only athletics, but the whole institution.
“Every time athletics can maintain competitiveness, it will always benefit the university,” she said.
This decision by the university will not negatively affect the finances of the institution, but will only create more flexibility on how they can utilize scholarships within athletics, Roybal said.
Roybal said if NIL is ever pursued by the university, then additional funding would need to come from fundraisers, but that is not in the plans at this time.