It may have seemed inconsistent.
In early June, the University of Maine athletic department announced its intention to opt out of the historic settlement between the NCAA and student athletes that now allows schools to pay players directly may have seemed inconsistent — at least for the first year of that agreement.
Just a few weeks later, the school reversed course and decided to opt in to the settlement after all.
Yes, the school’s plan had changed. But that’s because the guidance and rules surrounding parts of the settlement had also changed before a final decision was required.
And that final decision was consistent with the journey several other schools took during these deliberations.
“While our initial intention was to opt out, after closer review of the final settlement and the clarifying guidance — in particular regarding roster limits — we have officially notified the NCAA that we will opt in for the 2025-26 academic year,” the UMaine athletic department said on June 27, a few days before the extended June 30 deadline to opt in or out.
UMaine’s evolution tracked closely with the experience and decision making seen at other schools in the America East Conference and around the country.
Several months ago, the University of Albany, a fellow America East school, said it intended to opt out due to concerns about roster limits. But like UMaine, flexibility in how and when those roster limits will be implemented seems to have changed the calculus.
While the most prominent elements of the settlement involve the $2.8 billion in damages that the NCAA will pay student athletes and the ability for schools to directly pay athletes, one of the most concerning hangups for many schools had been the looming changes to roster sizes.
Those new roster limits, which vary depending on the sport, had schools concerned that existing athletes might need to be cut from teams in order to meet the new requirements. But new roster limit rules formally approved by the Division I Board of Directors on June 23 included exemptions for those existing athletes.
That seemingly small change had a huge impact in decision making from Maine to Montana.
“The initial settlement had no provision for accommodating roster limits through what’s now called ‘designated student-athletes,’” University of Montana Athletic Director Kent Haslam told MTN Sports last week. “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.”
Montana, like UMaine, went from planning to opt out of the first year of the settlement to joining after all. The same was true at schools like North Dakota and Siena.
“Like a number of institutions, we reversed course and decided to opt in for ’25-26 with this provision of managing your rosters, and being grandfathered in allows us to do that,” Haslam said.
By the time the June 30 deadline came and went, 82 percent of Division I schools had ended up opting in, according to Ross Dellenger from Yahoo Sports.
