University of Texas athletics director Steve Patterson announced the school will soon begin paying its student-athletes $10,000 a year apiece to cover cost of attendance and likeness rights.
The figure, set by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in her O’Bannon trial ruling in August, will be split evenly, so that $5,000 will go towards cost-of-attendance and $5,000 will serve as payment for UT’s use of the athlete’s name and likeness. In all, the school will be on the hook for about $6 million. "If we begin to [further] remunerate the participants, that’s going to break that model," Chris Plonsky, director for women’s sports at Texas, said. The school hasn't announced when it will begin to make these payouts, though next fall seems like a reasonable guess. Texas is the first school to announce it will compensate its athletes beyond scholarships following August's O'Bannon ruling. Presumably, all Power Five program will follow suit.