(#450) How will the House settlement roster limits impact college hockey?

The NCAA and its Power Five conferences filed documents late Friday to settle the House lawsuit, which would usher in revenue-sharing among college athletes and more. The settlement will cost the NCAA and its member schools about $2.8 billion.

Along with revenue-sharing, the settlement calls to end scholarship limits and replace them with roster caps, under which every player can receive an athletic scholarship.

In hockey, the new roster cap was set at 26 players. That’s an increase from the current 18-scholarship maximum, but it will also potentially reduce roster sizes, as most NCAA programs carried more than 26 players last season.

The new roster cap will take effect starting in 2025-26.

Teams will only be bound by the roster caps if they opt-in to the new NCAA model. With so many smaller athletic departments in college hockey, it’s expected that not every college hockey program opt-in to the new model.

According to the 333-page settlement, teams will be bound by the roster cap if they implement any part of the settlement, including incremental scholarships.

The teams that don’t opt-in for the model won’t be bound by the 26-player cap.

What does that mean?

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