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What financial impact could new NCAA settlement have on Utah?

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What financial impact could new NCAA settlement have on Utah?


On Thursday, a huge step was taken to soon make college sports as we know them changed forever.

The NCAA settled three lawsuits, including House vs. NCAA, and agreed to pay a nearly $2.8 billion settlement to athletes from 2016 to 2021 that covers back damages for the athletes who were unable to earn money from their name, image and likeness.

The five power conferences, including the Big 12 and Pac-12, agreed to terms of the settlement on Thursday. Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that if the NCAA lost the case, damages would have been $20 billion, which would have likely led to the NCAA filing bankruptcy, so the conferences felt it was in their best interest to settle and avoid catastrophe.

According to a letter from NCAA president Charlie Baker to member schools, obtained by Dellenger, to pay the $2.776 billion settlement over 10 years, the NCAA will use 42% of its own funds, while 58% will come from a reduction in distribution to its schools.

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Power conferences will have about $664 million of distributions withheld over 10 years, per Dellenger.

While the loss of that NCAA distribution — which could work out to a reduction of 0.61% of the average Power Five school’s budget, according to Dellenger — will have some bearing on Utah’s athletic department budget, the real impact will be felt in the new proposed revenue-sharing model that is part of the settlement.

Under the settlement, schools can directly pay players up to $22 million per year, starting in fall of 2025. That number, per Dellenger, was arrived at by “us(ing) an average of power conference revenue streams as a sort-of formula to determine an annual revenue-sharing limit.”

As coaches hit the recruiting trail shortly to find their next class, questions about direct payments will surely be at the top of recruits’ minds, but those questions may not have answers right now.

How does Title IX factor into the payments? It’s not covered in the settlement.

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“The settlement will allow, say, Ohio State, to share up to $20 million with its athletes. Which seems like a lot. But schools won’t be able to give all $20 million of it to the football team, lest they themselves want to be sued by their women’s sports athletes,” The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel wrote.

NIL collectives will likely still be in play as well, as the collectives operate outside of schools’ purview.

“Many within the sport believe that schools will keep their collective around for two reasons: (1) circumvent the revenue-sharing cap by using the third-party entity to offer “bonuses,” said one person; and (2) bend Title IX rules as collectives aren’t under the umbrella of the university,” Dellenger wrote.

While there’s no requirement for Utah to spend up to $22 million in paying its athletes, money will certainly be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, factor in recruits deciding where to play, and whether they stick around once they’re at Utah or enter the transfer portal.

Could player payment contracts include multi-year language, like professional sports, and prevent players from transferring before a certain time period?

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“Officials are discussing a range of possibilities for athlete contracts, including implementing buyout clauses that are often found in coaching contracts,” Dellenger wrote.

There is still so much to be worked out in the coming months before fall 2025, when the new system is expected to go into effect.

What is for certain is that Utah has to find a lot more money in its budget if it wants to be competitive in this new world of college athletics.

According to financial fillings, Utah’s athletic department had a total operating revenue of $126,256,291 in the 2023 fiscal year with total operating expenses of $124,453,484, leaving an excess of $1,802,807.

Utah has done well to turn a profit at a time where some athletic departments across the country are operating at a loss, but the surplus is still well short of $22 million.

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Step No. 1 will be to ramp up fundraising even more. Do fans currently donating to an NIL collective switch to donating to the athletic department to allow them to pay players directly? Will Utah’s athletic department absorb a current NIL program like the Crimson Collective, or will it continue to operate outside of the university in addition to the direct payments?

In addition to a massive uptick in donations, athletic directors across the country will have to start making cuts in the athletic department to free up money to start playing players.

What will happen to non-revenue sports? The revenue from football and men’s basketball currently covers the cost of all of the other sports Utah sponsors.

“There are concerns of the trickle-down effect these new financial requirements will have on athletic departments as well, including the possibility of schools cutting sports, athlete resources or administrative positions at both power-conference and non-power-conference schools,” Nicole Auerbach and Justin Williams of The Athletic wrote.

Cutting sports is a non-starter, though, as NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision rules require each institution to sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity sports, and Utah currently has 20 varsity sports. Even if Utah cut four sports, that’s not going to get them anywhere close to $22 million.

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Utah declined to comment on the NCAA settlement at this time.



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White scores 25 to help Utah women hand No. 8 TCU its 1st loss, 87-77 in overtime

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White scores 25 to help Utah women hand No. 8 TCU its 1st loss, 87-77 in overtime


SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Lani White scored 25 points to lead Utah past No. 8 TCU 87-77 in overtime Saturday night.

Reese Ross added 15 points and Maty Wilke had 12 for the Utes. Evelina Otto finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. Utah (11-4, 2-1 Big 12) made 13 3-pointers and shot 56.5% from long distance.

Olivia Miles had 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to pace the Horned Frogs (14-1, 2-1). Marta Suarez added 23 points and 11 rebounds. TCU shot just 37% from the field, including 9 of 39 from 3-point range.

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White forced overtime by making a 3-pointer that tied it 67-all with 12 seconds left in regulation. Utah never trailed in OT and went up 76-69 with 2:47 left after White capped a 9-2 run with her fourth outside basket.

TCU used a 7-0 spurt to erase a four-point deficit in the final minute of the fourth quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Suarez and Donovyn Hunter put TCU up 66-64 with 49 seconds remaining.

Ross had a chance to tie it on two free throws with 33.3 seconds left, but missed both. Miles made one of two foul shots with 22 seconds to go before White tied it.

Utah took advantage of cold shooting by the Horned Frogs to pull ahead in the third quarter. Back-to-back baskets from Suarez were TCU’s only field goals over an eight-minute stretch. The Utes scored on three straight possessions, culminating in a layup from Wilke, to take a 52-48 lead.

Miles made back-to-back baskets to put the Horned Frogs back up 58-56. Utah used a 7-0 run, punctuated by a 3-pointer from Ross, to go ahead 63-58 with 4:32 left in regulation.

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Up next

TCU hosts Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

Utah plays at Kansas on Wednesday.

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Judge files ruling allowing for appeal to Utah Supreme Court in redistricting case

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Judge files ruling allowing for appeal to Utah Supreme Court in redistricting case


The judge in Utah’s redistricting case filed a ruling making it possible for the Legislature to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court, but not without a strong rebuke of their process.

On Friday, Judge Dianna Gibson ruled partially in favor of the Legislature’s most recent request in the redistricting case, certifying its August 25th ruling as final in order to allow them to appeal to the Utah Supreme Court.

However, she strongly denied their request to enter a final judgment and end the case, saying, “This case is far from over.”

MORE | Utah Redistricting:

File – Utah Congressional Redistricting Maps (Image: KUTV)

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“Quite literally – this Court is between the proverbial rock and a hard spot. This entire case is not ‘final,’” Gibson wrote in the ruling. “But the Court agrees that the important legal issues decided by this Court and reflected in each of its rulings … should be reviewed by the Utah Supreme Court as quickly as possible.”

Gibson said it was the legislative defendant’s “duty to seek appellate review” regarding any of her interlocutory, or non-final orders, within 21 days of the rulings. She said they repeatedly claimed they would but never did.

Now, they are requesting she finalize the case, or at the very least one of her orders, to allow them to file an appeal.

Because Gibson does not want to delay appellate review, she agreed to certify the August 25, 2025 Ruling and Order as final.

“Every Utah voter, every Utah congressional candidate and arguably every Utah citizen is impacted by this case. Issuing a final ruling – on even a portion of this case – ultimately serves the public’s interest and will lead to a faster resolution of the entire case,” she wrote.

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The redistricting case dates back to 2018, when voters passed a ballot initiative to create a commission to redraw the congressional district boundaries.

State legislators repealed the ballot initiative in 2020, and attempted to draw their own congressional map the following year.

This prompted a lawsuit, which has led to several rulings, including the one on August 25th, which declared that the Utah Legislature violated voters’ rights by approving congressional boundaries that split Salt Lake County.

“Until there is a final decision on these legal issues from our Supreme Court, there will be a cloud on Utah’s congressional elections and an open question regarding the power of the Legislature and the power of the people,” Gibson wrote in her most recent ruling.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Utah man missing for 3 years presumed dead. What happened? – East Idaho News

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Utah man missing for 3 years presumed dead. What happened? – East Idaho News


SOUTH SALT LAKE (KSL) — Investigators believe a South Salt Lake man who disappeared in 2022 is likely dead, but they’re still trying to figure out what happened to him more than three years later.

“To my knowledge we don’t have one working theory as to whether it’s a homicide or a suicide or if he just completely went off the grid, essentially,” officer Shaun Ward said Monday.

But according to a recent search warrant affidavit filed in 3rd District Court, “There has been no financial or digital footprint indicating that (Cornelis ‘Casey’ Frederik Bokslag) is still alive. It is presumed he is deceased.”

Ward says the search warrant, filed in late November, is to look at Bokslag’s Google accounts, such as his email history, internet search history and location data. Investigators are hoping those records “might provide additional information about where Bokslag had been in the days and hours leading up to his disappearance as well as any correspondence, contacts, locations and a slew of other sources of information that could lead Investigators to the location of Bokslag’s body, which will allow us to determine if his disappearance was a result of suicide or foul play,” the warrant states.

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As of Monday, the request for that information from Google was still pending.

Ward, 30, was last seen on June 6, 2022. Police have recovered surveillance video of Bokslag leaving his apartment complex that day in his car by himself. He then went to an ATM in South Salt Lake and withdrew $100. Bokslag, a four-year Marine veteran who had worked for a watershed company since 2016, did not go to work that day, which family members, his employer and police said was highly unusual.

“Investigators eventually learned that Bokslag had taken the day off work and told friends and family that he was traveling to Evanston, Wyoming, to participate in the gay pride parade festivities,” according to the recently unsealed search warrant.

Hours after Bokslag was reported missing on June 8, 2022, his 2012 Suzuki SX4 was found by a passerby in Summit County, near the Castle Rock exit off I-80, about 18 miles west of the Wyoming border.

“It was discovered that the vehicle’s license plates were removed from the car. Meticulously, the screws were put back into the license plate frame, and the vehicle was essentially clean in nature,” police said at the time.

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The warrant further states that “there was a noticeable absence of fingerprints inside the vehicle. This was determined to be consistent with the interior having been wiped clean.

“Later, DNA swabs were taken and submitted for testing. They revealed two genetic profiles. One was matched to Bokslag by exemplar samples provided by the family. A second profile was identified. The profile was checked through the Combined DNA Index System, and no positive identification was made,” the warrant states.

Ward said Monday that investigators have done extensive searches around where Bokslag’s car was found in 2022, both on the ground and by drone. His residence was also searched, and a few items of potential evidence, such as Bokslag’s laptop, were seized.

A co-worker called Bokslag several times one night before he disappeared, according to cellphone records collected by investigators. Several witnesses told police that the co-worker and Bokslag “were up for the same promotion, but Bokslag was eventually selected for it, causing resentment. Those cellphone records also showed Bokslag’s phone being turned off at some point on June 6,” according to the warrant.

“A records check revealed that shortly after receiving numerous calls in one night from the hostile co-worker, and prior to being reported missing, Bokslag purchased a handgun in Salt Lake County along with two boxes of ammunition,” the warrant says.

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Ward did not have any additional information Monday about the co-worker, including whether police had questioned him or if he had been ruled out as a possible suspect.

A $50,000 reward is still being offered for information that leads to Bokslag being found. According to a web page set up by his family, Bokslag is 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs about 140 pounds, has blond hair and gray eyes. He also had a goatee at the time of his disappearance. A missing persons poster is hanging in the lobby of the South Salt Lake Police Department with Bokslag’s information.

Anyone who has information on what may have happened to Bokslag or anyone who may have seen him is asked to call police at 801-840-4000. Ward says all tips will be investigated.

“Really, anything at this point. If they think that they saw him or have seen him recently, or if they have any information into his personal life that our investigators may not know … any information is welcome,” he said. “We want to bring closure to the family. The family still wants answers.”

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