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Syracuse University Athletics announced in a release Thursday a “sweeping” $50 million fundraising campaign aimed to build sustained success throughout its athletic programs.

This campaign was launched ahead of the pending House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit settlement, which would grant Division I universities up to $20.5 million of revenue to be directly shared with players beginning July 1. SU will pay the maximum total of $20.5 million to its athletes if the settlement is approved, per the release.

“In this new era of college athletics, it is abundantly clear that winning programs will be the ones that galvanize the support of their campuses, fan bases and communities,” SU Director of Athletics John Wildhack said in the release. “We are fortunate that the Syracuse University community, our central New York community and Orange fans around the world have demonstrated their passionate commitment to our exceptional student-athletes and coaches.”

The initiative, dubbed “Champion ‘CUSE: The Campaign for Syracuse Athletics,” comes in response to the changing landscape of college athletics, now dominated by name, image and likeness and the transfer portal. SU spent over $94 million on athletics last year and could have the freedom to pay its own players pending the settlement.

Before Thursday, SU hadn’t made a public announcement about how it intends to pay players in the future. It’d only said its effort would be “competitive.”

The terms of the class-action lawsuit state that schools can pay their athletes up to 22% of Power Five revenues starting next year, which is estimated to be $20.5 million — a limit that will annually increase.

Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California has given the lawsuit preliminary approval of the House v. NCAA settlement and is scheduled to hear objections on April 7. SU football walk-on offensive lineman Adam Boeheim, nephew of Jim Boeheim, will be among those objecting to the ruling due to the assumption walk-on opportunities will be diminished because of it.

Published on February 20, 2025 at 12:59 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews