{"id":249094,"date":"2025-07-07T16:42:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T22:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/?p=249094"},"modified":"2025-07-07T16:42:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T22:42:42","slug":"montana-changes-course-opts-in-to-ncaas-house-settlement-for-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/07\/07\/montana-changes-course-opts-in-to-ncaas-house-settlement-for-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana changes course, opts in to NCAA&#8217;s House settlement for this year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>MISSOULA \u2014 The University of Montana is changing course and will opt-in this year to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ncaa-settlement-opt-outs-8689d58826e7ace7e9ec2f4b06c6ace3\">NCAA\u2019s House settlement<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-group alignright newspack-media-partners\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"235\" src=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Associated_Press_logo_2012.svg_.png\" class=\"attachment-200x999 size-200x999\" alt=\"Website for Associated Press\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw \/ 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw \/ 12)), 100vw\" \/><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis story also appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Associated Press<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<p>The recent settlement means athletic programs across the country are free to start paying millions to their athletes in one of the biggest changes in the history of college athletics. The deadline for schools around the country to opt out was Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Montana was originally planning to opt-in during the 2026-27 academic year. The school this week explained that it switched after rosters were grandfathered into the final approved settlement so that roster cuts weren&#8217;t necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Athletic director Kent Haslam told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montanasports.com\/college\/montana-grizzlies\/montana-athletics-changes-course-opts-into-house-settlement-as-new-era-of-ncaa-begins\">MTN Sports<\/a> the \u201cinitial settlement had no provision for accommodating roster limits through what\u2019s now called \u2018designated student-athletes.&#8217; But as it unfolded, there was an opportunity to preserve our (current) roster limits by grandfathering in your current squad sizes. That completely changed our mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The settlement means schools will be able to make payments to athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). A handful of schools have decided to wait it out at least a year to see how things develop, including legal risks and Title IX concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ivy League said in January that its eight schools \u2014 which do not award athletic scholarships \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/college-athletes-pay-ivy-league-6153eedf1e4644d3d4f6dd004a666f00\">will not participate<\/a>. Military rules prevent Navy, Air Force, and Army from compensating athletes through name, image and likeness deals. But alongside the academies are others choosing to watch the settlement unfold from the sidelines during year one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nebraska-Omaha and Montana were originally among the schools opting out. Rival Montana State has opted in, raising the recruiting stakes for two programs that are often among the best teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Haslam told MTN Sports: &#8220;Everything surrounding the House settlement we were ready for. We were excited for everything around revenue sharing and scholarship and financial and how that\u2019s restructured. The hesitancy was around roster limits, and once that got resolved and we could make sure that we were ready to do it, we opted in.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-light-gray-background-color has-background\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles  wpnbha ts-2 \"\n\t\tstyle=\"\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t<div data-posts data-current-post-id=\"245975\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-section-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span>LATEST STORIES<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262736\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-montana-insights category-montana-insights type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/75-of-voters-want-montana-to-have-at-least-as-much-federal-land-as-it-does-now\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">75% of voters want Montana to have at least as much federal land as it does now<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Federal land transfer has been a party of the GOP party platform at both the state and national level, but a recent MTFP-Eagleton poll indicates that a majority of Republican voters oppose reducing the amount of land in federal ownership.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/aeggert\/\">Amanda Eggert<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T14:34:54-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T14:35:02-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262727\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-westerndev category-politics type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/christi-jacobsen-zinke-western-house\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen joins contest for Zinke\u2019s western U.S. House District seat<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Jacobsen made her announcement on Facebook with a campaign video portraying her as both a political outsider and the favorite of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/tom-lutey\/\">Tom Lutey<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T12:29:26-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time><time class=\"updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T22:45:03-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\n\t<article data-post-id=\"262679\"\n\t\tclass=\"tag-bob-morris tag-data-centers tag-energy tag-greg-gianforte tag-montana-insights tag-northwestern-energy tag-public-service-commission tag-ryan-zinke tag-steve-daines tag-troy-downing tag-u-s-congress tag-unleashing-energy-task-force category-energy category-montana-insights type-post post-has-image\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"entry-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/03\/03\/montanans-want-more-solar-natural-gas-development-are-less-interested-in-new-coal-plants\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Montanans want more solar, natural gas development, are less interested in new coal plants<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The poll results on Montana\u2019s energy mix come as politicians and policymakers grapple with surging electricity demand spurred by investment in artificial intelligence and the data centers that support it.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"byline\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"author-prefix\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/aeggert\/\">Amanda Eggert<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><!-- .author-name -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"entry-date published updated\" datetime=\"2026-03-03T08:00:00-07:00\">03.03.2026<\/time>\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-meta -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .entry-wrapper -->\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Montana is changing course and will opt-in this year to the NCAA\u2019s House settlement. The recent settlement means athletic programs across the country are free to start paying millions to their athletes in the biggest change in the history of college athletics. Montana was originally planning to opt-in during the 2026-27 academic year. The school explained that it switched after rosters were grandfathered into the final approved settlement so that roster cuts weren\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":249089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"everlit_article_id":"","everlit_hide_embed":false,"everlit_embed_size":"","everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_article_id":"","_everlit_hide_embed":false,"_everlit_embed_size":"","_everlit_generation_settings":[],"_everlit_content_hash":"","_everlit_metadata_hash":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-07-07T22:42:39Z","apple_news_api_id":"d73ddbf7-fe97-426a-b313-5298336b1196","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-07-07T22:42:47Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A1z3b9_6XQmqzE1KYM2sRlg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_primary_brand":0,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"The school explained that it switched after rosters were grandfathered into the final approved settlement so that roster cuts weren\u2019t necessary.","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[1408,31395],"tags":[35278,999],"post_format":[],"brand":[],"partner":[34666],"series":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"type-of-work":[],"coauthors":[34661],"class_list":["post-249094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-no-republish","tag-ncaa","tag-university-of-montana","partner-associated-press","entry"],"slp_mobile_featured_image":{"id":249089,"href":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249089","image_path":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AP25079637764554-scaled.jpg","caption":"Monte, the University of Montana mascot, kisses the standard before the team faces Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament March 20, 2025, in Denver."},"slp_coauthors":[{"display_name":"Associated Press","user_nicename":"associated-press","author_link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/author\/associated-press\/"}],"slp_primary_category":{"id":1408,"name":"Education"},"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Montana changes course, opts in to NCAA&#039;s House settlement for this year<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The school explained that it switched after rosters were grandfathered into the final approved settlement so that roster cuts weren\u2019t necessary.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/07\/07\/montana-changes-course-opts-in-to-ncaas-house-settlement-for-this-year\/\" \/>\n<meta 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The recent settlement means athletic programs across the country are free to start paying millions to their athletes in the biggest change in the history of college athletics. Montana was originally planning to opt-in during the 2026-27 academic year. The school explained that it switched after rosters were grandfathered into the final approved settlement so that roster cuts weren\u2019t necessary.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mtfreepress\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@mtfreepress\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/07\/07\/montana-changes-course-opts-in-to-ncaas-house-settlement-for-this-year\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2025\/07\/07\/montana-changes-course-opts-in-to-ncaas-house-settlement-for-this-year\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nate 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