College Sports Overhaul: Timeline of the Transition to New Era
The 2025-26 season in college sports will mark a first, with universities allowed to directly pay athletes for the first time after the settlement in the House v. NCAA federal case.
For Division I conferences that adopt the settlement — including the the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and any other conferences that opt in — scholarship limits will be replaced with hard roster caps, with universities given the option to offer full scholarships to all members. Walk-ons will no longer exist.
This change, which combined multiple lawsuits to one brought by former Arizona State swimmer Grant House, comes just four years after the introduction of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rights for college athletes, which allowed NCAA participants to remain eligible while accepting money from sponsors and third-party collectives. Meanwhile, it has been only seven years since the advent of the transfer portal, which made the process of moving between institutions far easier while removing penalties and wait time for transfers.
The final step of this transition will take place in the coming days when the House settlement is ratified by a federal judge. With that in mind, here are the primary events that have transformed college sports — including swimming — over the past seven years.
- October 2018: Transfer portal launches.
- 2020: House and multi-school women’s basketball player Sedona Prince file lawsuit attempting to force the NCAA and major conferences to begin revenue sharing.
- April 2021: Division I council adopts legislation that all athletes can transfer one time without sitting out of competition for a year.
- June 2021: U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in NCAA v. Alston that due to anti-trust laws, the NCAA could not restrict non-monetary athlete compensation.
- July 2021: NCAA adopts policy that allows student-athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness rights.
- August 2021: Following the Tokyo Olympics, numerous NCAA-eligible swimmers sign NIL deals, including Regan Smith with Speedo and Torri Huske with TYR.
- May 2024: The NCAA announces a settlement in the House case, paving the way for backpay to former college athletes as well as direct payments from schools moving forward. The settlement is worth $2.8 billion.
- May 2024: A change to transfer portal rules allows athletes unlimited transfers without sitting out for a season.
- July 2024: Sport-specific roster limits announced for conferences that opt into the House settlement, with swimming and diving at 30 per gender. Specific conferences can set lower limits if desired.
- March 2025: Cal Poly announces plans to cut of its swimming and diving program, citing rising costs under the House settlement.
