🏅An ultimatum has been issued.

Hey there,

How are y’all doing this fine Saturday? Hopefully good – there’s a whole lot of college baseball and softball on this weekend, including the dramatic return of Texas Longhorns coach Jim Schlossnagle to play his former team, Texas A&M. It’s about as poetic as college baseball can get.

It was a crazy week on the NIL front too. Today we’re talking about Judge Wilken’s House Settlement ultimatum, how much American money families are spending on their children’s athletic careers, and NIL buyout agreements. It’s all coming up right now, let’s get into it!

— Cole and Collin

The Big 3

Judge Wilken’s Ultimatum

Judge Claudia Wilken, who’s been presiding over the House v. NCAA case, just delivered an ultimatum this week: Either delay the implementation of roster limit restrictions in the House Settlement or face the possibility she doesn’t approve the deal.

Okay, so what’s going on here? Well, Judge Wilken seems quite moved by the bevy of complaints against the House Settlement’s roster limit restrictions, which would effectively force schools to cut a large percentage of their athletes from the team. She asked rather politely for the lawyers to consider “grandfathering” those changes into the deal, but they held their ground.

"Class members will be harmed because their roster spot will be or has been taken away as a result of the immediate implementation of the settlement agreement," Wilken wrote in her order. (More)

Youth Sports is Becoming Big Business

Parents in the U.S. are spending a ton of money on their kids’ athletic careers nowadays, presumably with college careers in mind. In 2025, American households are spending $3K annually on average for their kids’ sports training.

The investment makes sense on the surface. If an athlete is able to reach the DI level, there’s substantial NIL money to be made. However, it’s really hard to actually make it that far – and about to become even harder if the House Settlement’s roster limit rules actually do take effect.

Meanwhile, 83% of parents think their kid can play in college, and 75% believe they can play at the professional level. Nearly half of the respondents are “confident” their child will receive an athletic scholarship. (More)

Arkansas is Enforcing NIL Contract Buyouts

A week after his brother was embroiled in NIL controversy, former Arkansas QB Madden Iamaleava now finds himself at odds with his former school. He announced his intention to transfer to UCLA a day after his brother’s decision was finalized… but Arkansas says he owes them money.

The problem here concerns NIL buyout clauses, which allow a team to recoup NIL investments if a player reneges on their deal. To this point, it seems like these clauses have been rarely enforced, but now Arkansas is threatening legal action if Iamaleava doesn’t comply and give back the money to their NIL collective. 

"I have spoken with the leadership team at Arkansas Edge and expressed my support in their pursuit to enforce their rights under any agreement violated by our student-athletes moving forward," said Razorbacks AD Hunter Yurachek, “We appreciate Edge's investment in our student-athletes and acknowledge the enforcement of these agreements is vital in our new world of college athletics.” (More)

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NIL BLITZ

♦️ SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey calls out sports lawyers who talk about NIL

♦️ Instead of a spring game, Nebraska is running a scrimmage today for the players battling to make the final roster

♦️ The NCAA has been lobbying in D.C. more since the Trump administration took over

♦️ UTEP is discontinuing its women’s tennis program

♦️ Deion Sanders thinks college football should have an NIL salary cap

♦️ New Jersey may not allow the NCAA to enforce their 5-year eligibility rule

♦️ The DI Board of Directors approves House Settlement-related rule changes

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

If you were a high school football player, would you transfer out of the state for $750K?

• Yes - 54%

• No - 46%