The proposed settlement of three antitrust cases concerning the compensation of college athletes that now has been approved by the NCAA, the Power Five conferences and lawyers for the plaintiffs brings some clarity to the future of college sports.

Subject to the agreement’s approval by a federal judge, schools would be able to directly pay their athletes, an extraordinary change for an association and member schools and conferences that had spent years and tens of millions of dollars in legal and lobbying costs fighting the idea.

Under the settlement plan, there would be a damages of about $2.8 billion – most of which is to be paid to compensate current and former athletes who, for years, had been prohibited from getting paid for a variety of activities and accomplishments that now can result in significant cash.

Within – and beyond – that, there are still many questions. Here is a look at some of those questions and where things stand with them. At least for now.

What are the specifics of NCAA revenue plan with athletes?

At its most basic level, the plan presumably set to being in 2025-26 academic year initially will guided by a cap of 22% of the combined total of certain revenues of Power Five conference schools. Among the revenues being counted for this are those from media rights deals, ticket sales and sponsorships. NCAA representatives said Thursday night the dollar amount for the cap is set to increase annually and would be re-set further, depending on whether the applicable revenues increase substantially (think, new or renegotiated TV contracts).

It will be up to the schools to determine how they want to spread this money among their athletes. NCAA representatives said Thursday night the idea is to provide schools with flexibility. And school athletics officials already have been considering how to proceed.

Asked recently whether his department has been planning internally for how it would adjust to revenue sharing, Tennessee athletics director Danny White said: “We’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about it. We have this really special thing called college athletics in this country, and we have an enormous responsibility to make sure we fix a structure that’s been proven to be not legally defendable, not financially sustainable. It’s really important that we take our role seriously.”

What seems clear is that schools will have to take into consideration Title IX, the federal gender-equity law. In multiple public appearances, veteran Title IX lawyer Arthur Bryant — who has represented, and continues to represent, female athletes in numerous lawsuits against schools — has said that if money is coming from schools, the law applies.

Bryant also has argued that because of the increasing connections between athletics departments and collectives, there is a case to be made about Title IX’s applicability to those deals. And he is leading a legal team trying to make such a case in a lawsuit against the University of Oregon that includes allegation related to collectives that Oregon says it does not control.

How will the proposed damages payments be made to affected athletes?

This gets complicated.

The proposed settlement seeks to address lawsuits that were filed at different times and cover different issues. That means money will be paid out from a variety of pools.

For example, there will be a pool based on TV broadcast money that allegedly would have gone to athletes if the NCAA’s limits on pay had not existed. That pool is likely to cover athletes primarily in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball and will cover athletes from as far back as 2016, because the applicable lawsuit was filed in 2020. Another pool will be based on academic achievement awards that athletes now can get, but previously could not. That pool is likely to cover all current and former athletes who competed on a Division I team on, or after, April 1, 2019, because the applicable suit was filed in April 2023.

Each of the pools likely will apply to different groups of athletes covering different time frames, although it’s likely some athletes will be eligible for payments from multiple pools.

The amount of a payment to an athlete from a given pool almost certainly will be based on factors such as what sport they played, and the number of years they were on a team. Steve Berman, one of the plaintiffs’ lead attorneys, said Thursday night that football and men’s basketball players eligible to receive money from the damages fund each are likely to receive tens of thousands of dollars, if not more.

On Friday, Berman said by email that because the damages settlement would be funded by the NCAA over a 10-year period, payments to athletes also would be made over a 10-year period.

Fees and costs award for the plaintiffs’ lawyers will be part of the settlement agreement that will be sent to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. In 2017, when the damages part of another lawsuit Berman’s firm led against the NCAA was settled for $208.7 million, Wilken’s approved the agreement and the plaintiffs’ lawyers’ request for $41.7 million in fees and $3.2 million in expenses. Those allocations came from the settlement fund.

How do schools cover the cost of athletes’ revenue sharing?

The proposed $2.8 billion in damages money will come from the NCAA. Association representatives said Thursday night said 41% will come from the central office from new revenue, cost savings and reserve funds.

NCAA representatives said the rest will come from reductions in distributions to Division I member schools and conferences. They said the breakdown of that is:

24% from Power Five/Four members.

10% from Group of Five members.

13% from Football Championship Subdivision members

12% from members that don’t participate in football.

As for schools that would be sharing with their athletes, expect to hear a lot of comments like this one from Georgia athletics director Josh Brooks on Thursday at a meeting of the University of Georgia Athletic Association’s board of directors:

“You’ve got to pull every lever, right?” Brooks said. “We’re going to try to find ways to grow revenue whether it’s through our multimedia rights partner, whether it’s through future revenue gains through TV contracts with the (College Football Playoff). Looking at ticket prices is a way, but also we’ve got to be good stewards of our money, right? We’ve got to find efficiencies and operate in the most efficient manner possible.”

Georgia is exploring raising football and baseball ticket prices. Other schools might do what Texas A&M did in late April, when it laid off staffers, according to the The Bryan-College Station Eagle. Or, what Missouri did when it hired Laird Veatch as athletics director: Include a contract provision that says if “changes to the financial model for collegiate athletics” occurs because of pending litigation or legislation and it creates “a serious financial exigency” for the department, the parties agree to renegotiate his pay.

Other athletics officials mentioned the prospects of conferences replacing a non-conference football game with a conference game in the hope of boosting TV and/or ticket revenue, or schools adding corporate patches on jerseys if their outfitting agreements allow.

Amid all of the commercialism now in college sports, there are experts who believe that college sports is under-leveraged commercially. Among those is Jeff Nelson, the president of Navigate, a firm that specializes in college and professional sports rights valuations.

Nelson said that, in addition to ticket prices, schools could look at selling naming rights for stadiums and arenas, expanding signage opportunities inside those venues.

He also mentioned “more exotic” ideas like schools attempting to develop real estate around their venues into entertainment districts or conferences exploring with their schools the idea of pooling their apparel arrangements to take advantage of their collective reach. “There’s a reason all 32 NFL teams don’t have different apparel contracts,” Nelson said.

‘Some of these things will ruffle feathers,” Nelson said. “But this a time for blue-sky thinking, a time for creativity, a time to get more aggressive.”

Is there other impact to the NCAA beyond the damages payment and revenue sharing?

Yes. The proposed settlement would include changes to NCAA rules, including a shift from scholarship limits on sports to roster limits. The details of those plans are still unclear. So are details of an effort to have the proposed settlement create a way for the NCAA to better enforce rules against pay to athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) being de facto pay-for-play arrangements rather than true NIL deals. That is likely to involve trying to develop a reporting structure for NIL deals and a way to assess the fair market value of deals.

Is this new NCAA structure open to potential legal challenge?

Yes. The proposed settlement is subject to court approval, and there will be an opportunity for parties with appropriate standing to object. Lawyers for the plaintiffs in a separate athlete-compensation suit against the NCAA and the conferences that has been allowed to proceed in Colorado seem likely to object. The inclusion of a cap on revenue sharing could be an issue. And there are hard feelings among some within the NCAA membership outside the current Power Five conferences about the damages settlement and how it’s being funded.

‘All 32 conferences wanted a settlement,” Big Sky Conference commissioner Tom Wistrcill said in an interview Friday, “but it’s unfortunate” the way the proposed agreement turned out. “We’re not giving up hope” about being able to alter the terms either now or in the future.

He also said: “From a Big Sky perspective, we’ve been talking to U.S. senators, governors, legal experts (and) exploring our options – that’s ongoing.”

Asked if that meant filing an objection to the settlement or taking another action, Wistrcill said: “Everything is on the table right now.”

However, Berman and the NCAA representatives said Thursday night they are confident he proposed settlement will gain legal approval.

“Very confident,” Berman said.

PHILADELPHIA – Semifinal Saturday at the NCAA men’s lacrosse championships produced little in the way of high drama. But the resulting title showdown Monday matching the two most recent winners perhaps holds more promise. Defending champ Notre Dame and 2022 titlist Maryland each posted convincing victories Saturday before a crowd of 32,269 at Lincoln Financial Field.

Top-seeded Notre Dame used a huge second half and a dominant performance by face-off specialist Will Lynch to pull away from No. 5 Denver 13-6. After holding a slim 5-4 lead at halftime, the Fighting Irish (14-1) outscored the Pioneers 4-1 in the third quarter. A goal by Joshua Carlson 1:23 into the fourth pulled Denver (13-4) within three at 9-6, but a three-goal burst by the Irish spanning just 61 seconds, including a pair by Devon McLane, effectively put it out of reach.

As usual, the Kavanagh brothers led the offensive charge for Notre Dame. Pat Kavanagh recorded five points on three goals and a pair of assists, while younger brother Chris also had a hat trick and a helper. McLane also finished with three goals on the day. But Lynch was the real MVP, winning 18 of 23 faceoffs while also recording eight ground balls and an assist as the Irish possessed the ball for most of the second half.

Liam Entenmann was also solid in goal for Notre Dame with 12 saves. His counterpart, Malcolm Kleban, did his best to keep the Pioneers in it with nine first-half saves, but he only managed one stop after intermission as the defense in front of him wore down.

Richie Connell and Michael Lampert each scored twice for the Pioneers. DU’s leading scorer J.J. Sillstrop was kept off the scoresheet entirely as Notre Dame’s defense prevented any kind of flow for the Denver attack.

No. 7 Maryland ran away from No. 6 Virginia 12-6 in the second semifinal. The Terrapins (11-5) built a 4-1 lead in the first quarter, and a pair of goals 20 seconds apart early in the third quarter for a 9-3 lead effectively ended any suspense. Connor Shellenberger got Virginia (12-6) on the board first just 55 seconds into the game, but he was held to just a single assist the rest of the day.

Daniel Kelly led a balanced Maryland attack with three goals, with Eric Spanos chipping in two goals and three assists.

It was the Terrapins’ stifling defense, however, that ruled the day. While Ajax Zappitello kept Shellenberger in check, fellow long pole Colin Burlace contributed a goal and an assist in transition. The unit was backed by Logan McNaney, who recorded eight saves in the Maryland goal. The Terrapins will be seeking their second title in three years and third since 2017.

In Sunday’s women’s final in Cary, North Carolina, Northwestern is also seeking a repeat championship. The Wildcats (18-2) outlasted Florida 15-11 Friday in a lightning-interrupted semifinal. They’ll take on No. 2 Boston College (19-3), a 10-7 winner over No. 3 Syracuse in Friday’s other semifinal. Both the women’s and men’s final can be seen on ESPN. Opening draw for the women is set for noon ET on Sunday, with the men to face off at 1 p.m. ET Monday.

SAN DIEGO − Aaron Judge entered Petco Park early Friday afternoon, and couldn’t help but think how close he came to walking into the home clubhouse and wearing a San Diego Padres uniform.

Judge, who homered for the third consecutive game in the New York Yankees’ 8-0 victory over the Padres, was a free agent two years ago. Talks with the Yankees were stalled. Padres owner Peter Seidler picked up the phone in December 2022, and wanted to talk.

Judge and his agents secretly flew into San Diego on Dec. 6, met three hours with Seidler and Padres GM A.J. Preller at Petco Park, and were informed they were willing to offer at least a 10-year, $400 million contract.

Judge listened intently, was flattered, returned home, and a day later signed a nine-year, $360 million deal to remain with the Yankees.

“Oh yeah, I thought about it when I drove in,’’ Judge told USA TODAY Sports. “It was a long time ago. I tried to keep it quiet, but when I walked around the streets, a couple of people got wind of it. It was tough to hide.

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“But man, I was very impressed by [Seidler]. If we weren’t coming from the Yankees and the situation we have here, you never know. Just how he treated me and my family. Just a couple of hours meeting him, I was like, ‘This is what it’s all about. This is a true owner. This is a guy who cares about every single person from the cooks to the guy they’re trying to sign.’

“He’s definitely missed over there.

“A very special guy.’’

Seidler died last Nov. 14 at the age of 63, but if he were still alive, Juan Soto may still be wearing a Padres’ uniform, too.

Soto might have been locked up to a long-term contract, too, instead of hitting his 14th homer for the Yankees Friday, and now batting .315 with a .994 OPS as the leading contender for the American League MVP award.

“Peter Seidler talked throughout his illness about Juan,’’ agent Scott Boras told USA TODAY Sports late Friday night. “He kept saying, ‘We’re going to sign him. We’re going to get that done. We know what he means to us.’

“From everything Peter said to me, there is no way he would have traded Juan Soto. I don’t think that was in his DNA. It was very personal to him.

“Peter talked to me about Judge, too, and how serious he was inquiring about him. He was very secure in his thinking about the game. The only cost he worried about was building a statue for him.’’

Soto, 25, who was traded to the Yankees in December, reminded everyone in San Diego about his talent. He was heavily booed in his first at-bat, struck out, and then hit a 423-foot home run into the right-field seats in his second at-bat, doubled, and was robbed of another homer by right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.

“It was electric, fun, definitely fun,’’ Soto said. “It was just great. You see right field, they were fighting with each other saying, ‘Let’s Go Yankees, Let’s Go Padres. Great energy out there.’’’

Soto reiterated before the game in a press conference, and again afterwards, just how much he’s enjoying being a Yankee. He loves his time in the Bronx, and the fans love him back.

“This is more than what I expected,’’ Soto said. “It’s been unbelievable so far.’’

Yet, while Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner says he wants to sit down with Boras and Soto and talk about a potential contract extension, Soto certainly is in no rush with free agency around the corner. Soto has had numerous conversations with Boras about a contract, according to Boras’ notes, and several chances to sign long-term extensions with the Washington Nationals and Padres, but is willing to wait until everyone can bid on him.

“This is a generational talent who is 25 years old,’’ said Boras, who plans to visit Soto and attend Saturday’s Yankees-Padres game. “We know what Juan Soto can do from 19 to 24, and now we’re just starting to learn what Juan Soto can do for the next eight or nine or 10 years in the prime of his career.

“Juan knows this. We talk about Juan as a player, but don’t forget about his intellect. He put himself in this [free-agent] position with his decision making. You don’t make the decisions he’s made unless you have a high intellect caliber.

“If Juan didn’t make these difficult decisions, he’d still be in Washington. Or he’d be in San Diego. These are Juan’s decisions.’’

So, yes, he’s willing to wait for free agency, and even with Steinbrenner declaring this week that a $300 million player payroll may not be sustainable, Soto and Boras shrug.

“When you have generational talents … ’’ Boras said, “They’re not really a part of the budget. They are part of how you grow assets. They are a different breed.

“The only cost concern is the cost of the monument.’’

In the meantime, well, enjoy the show, with Soto, Judge and Giancarlo Stanton hitting 1,249 feet of home runs in a span of five pitches in the third inning off Padres ace Yu Darvish, combining for 43 home runs this season.

The Yankees are now 36-17, and on pace to go 110-52 for their greatest season since 1998.

Yep, the year they swept the Padres in the World Series.

“Right now, I’m focusing toward 2024,’’ Soto says. “I’m a Yankee right now and my goals are really clear. That is to win a championship.”

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The everybody-into-the-pool vibes of Major League Baseball’s modern playoff structure certainly dashes the concept of “surprise teams.” Yet it still calls for clarity.

And with the first of America’s big three grillin’ out, chillin’ out weekends at hand, it’s about that time to separate the title contenders from the faux-tenders.

As the MLB season creeps toward the halfway mark, a look at five teams whose moderately surprising rise to contention are legitimate – and those whose hopes might turn, not unlike the leftover guacamole in your refrigerator:

Padres: Legit

Yeah, it’s silly, we know: A team whose luxury-tax payroll will touch $225 million looks pretty odd mentioned in the realm of “surprises” or “plucky little hopefuls.” But San Diego’s signal to slash, slash, slash with the trade of Juan Soto certainly turned out the lights on a payroll party that seemed to have no end.

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The bill is coming due: Soto is a Yankee, the top-shelf prospects they dealt for him aren’t coming back and $280 million man Xander Bogaerts is no longer a shortstop, no longer productive and now, no longer healthy.

But the trade to acquire quasi ace Dylan Cease wedged open a two-year window of contention, and the Padres pried it open further with the surprise deal for reigning batting champ Luis Arráez, who like Cease can become a free agent after 2025.

The result? San Diego has won 11 of 19 since the Arráez deal, nudging over .500 and wedging itself into a crowded wild-card race. Hey, it’s not easy snagging a playoff berth when your rival up the freeway pretty much has the division on lock.

Through their actions and play, the Padres have ensured themselves another loud, crowded, relevant summer at Petco Park.

Red Sox: Suspect

They have bobbed above and beneath the .500 mark five times already, with a nascent pitching staff always keeping them in games and preventing any losing streak from extending past four games.

And while they rank second in ERA and eighth in OPS in the major leagues, we’re wondering if this team might not have the goods to stick in their very high-rent district.

They’re just 9-17 against clubs with winning records, and 26-25 is simply good enough for third place in the AL East, where the Yankees lead them by nine games.

Oh, and that reminds us: They still must play all 13 games against the Yankees, plus 10 more against Baltimore.

Given that their encouraging start doesn’t yet have them in playoff position, we can’t see that improving with the schedule toughening and some outlier performances (Tyler O’Neill’s 143 adjusted OPS, say) likely coming back to earth.

Royals: Legit

We signaled our belief in these cats a few days ago, and they since went out and swept a division rival while knocking off the best pitcher in the AL to date. There simply comes a time when a team on the rise gets over the hump of conviction, which only makes them play even better.

The Royals are there, and with some vital signs that look encouraging for sustainability.

Of note: They rank fourth in the majors in runs but just 16th in home runs, with 52. You might say power doesn’t disappear, but it can slump, and with MVP candidates Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez blanketed by a contact-conscious lineup that ranks No. 2 in fewest strikeouts, the Royals are a tough out every night.

Naturally, their pitching’s staying power may tell all, but that Seth Lugo is pitching like an All-Star and Cole Ragans keeps taking steps toward acehood means a significant piece of that is in place.

Cardinals: Suspect

They’ve crawled out of the NL Central basement – or at least, were underperformed by the Reds and Pirates in recent weeks – and have joined the wild-card hopeful flotilla. They could conceivably catch the second-place Cubs this weekend, and just swept AL playoff club Baltimore.

But the patient’s vital signs are still blinking in the wrong direction.

A run differential of minus-43 means they’re actually lucky to be just 23-26. They’re 29th in runs scored, 23rd in OPS and, beneath that, 26th with a 36.5% hard-hit percentage.

Hey, Sonny Gray should make the All-Star Game for a second consecutive year, but let’s not pretend the decent and improved but far from dominant pitching staff can carry to that extent. It’s not hard to imagine the Cardinals in a familiar spot: Not so bad that it’s tempting to blow it all up, not so potent that they can be taken seriously as a contender.

Giants: Legit

To the extent that a 26-26 club can be considered legit.

A crushing season-ending injury to Jung Hoo Lee and an IL stint from Michael Conforto forced the club to roll out youngsters Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos, and Matos has been a revelation, with 19 RBI and a .460 slugging in 50 at-bats.

Blake Snell does not look like a lost cause and should get deeper and more effective in games. Meanwhile, fellow Boras Four alum Matt Chapman has been playing like an MVP the past 10 days, in Platinum Glove form on defense and on track for 25 home runs.

Should lefty Matt Harrison emerge as the man in the rotation – or, at least, a firm No. 2 to Logan Webb – the Giants have the makings of a Torture-style slog to 85 wins and an October save-the-date.

INDIANAPOLIS – Courtney Vandersloot knows how Caitlin Clark feels. Kind of. 

In 2011, Vandersloot was wrapping up a record-setting career at Gonzaga. Though Vandersloot was a dominant mid major player, there were concerns about her size. She’s just 5-foot-8 and, she joked “130 pounds soaking wet” (she plays at 137 now). While she was considered a top prospect, Vandersloot knew “I wasn’t on every team’s scouting report.” 

Vandersloot, a five-time All-Star, understood how good the WNBA was and wasn’t sure if she’d make a final roster. So while Clark went into her professional career essentially guaranteed to be a starter for the Indiana Fever from Day 1, Vandersloot can relate to how difficult the transition is. 

“I don’t think people really have a grasp of that, how different the game is from college to pros, there’s a very big jump,” Vandersloot said. “I knew it but I don’t think I could even fully understand it until I was living it. The margin of error is the biggest difference, especially from a point guard’s perspective.

‘Things that were working in college — working your whole life! — all of a sudden don’t work anymore and now you’re throwing it to the other team. It happens to all of us.” 

Vandersloot and the New York Liberty visited Indianapolis for Clark’s home opener on May 16, when the Fever got run out of the gym 102-66. Though they lost again in a rematch in New York two days later, the Fever were considerably better, only losing by 11, 91-80. In those two games Clark averaged 15.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7 assists to go with 5.5 turnovers. 

On Friday, Clark and the Fever finally got their first win of the season, hanging on for a 78-73 victory at Los Angeles behind two clutch 3s from Clark in the final minutes. The rookie didn’t shoot well for most the game, but came close to notching a triple double, reminding everyone afterward that “it’s not all about the shots.”

She has struggled from the field, missing numerous 3s and had trouble with turnovers. But on Friday she recorded just two turnovers to her eight assists.

Former first-round draft pick Billy Price announced his retirement from the NFL on Saturday morning due to the potential of complications from a blood clot.

The center last played in the league with the Arizona Cardinals during the 2022 season.

‘In the blink of an eye, everything can be taken away,’ Price wrote on Instagram. ‘On April 24th I had emergency pulmonary embolism surgery to remove a saddle clot that was entering both of my lungs. As a healthy 29 year old, an unprovoked pulmonary embolism with no further medical explanation is terrifying. I am truly thankful to be alive today.

‘Unfortunately, I will be retiring from the NFL as the risk of an internal bleed while on blood thinners creates tremendous risk.’

Price played in 69 career games (45 starts) with the Bengals, New York Giants and Cardinals since being selected by Cincinnati with the 21st overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft out of Ohio State.

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With the Buckeyes, he won the Rimington Trophy, which honors the nation’s top center, in 2017.