US judge approves landmark $2.8 billion NCAA settlement with athletes

By Mike Scarcella

(Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Friday granted final approval to a $2.8 billion settlement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association that will allow schools for the first time to compensate student athletes for past and future commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.

The settlement, approved in a ruling by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in the Oakland, California, federal court, resolves long-running litigation between the NCAA and student athletes.

“Despite some compromises, the settlement agreement nevertheless will result in extraordinary relief for members of the settlement classes,” Wilken wrote. She added the deal will “permit levels and types of student-athlete compensation that have never been permitted in the history of college sports.”

Th