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COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥� College sports鈥� latest watershed moment is here.

There鈥檚 been a growing flow of change related to the landmark legal settlement in recent months, and it鈥檚 hardly the only turning point seen in college athletics over the last several years.

Still, Tuesday marks a critical juncture in how college sports work. It鈥檚 the date that the House v. NCAA settlement, more commonly referred to as the House settlement, takes effect and ushers in new rules and structures for paying college athletes.

How it鈥檒l work at Missouri 鈥� and nationally, for that matter 鈥� can be confusing, especially for those of us who don鈥檛 have a law degree or full-time compliance staffers like an athletics department does. Here鈥檚 a rundown of what we know, what we don鈥檛 know and what could be coming next:

What will athletes receive?

If you鈥檝e only just wrapped your head around the idea of college athletes receiving name, image and likeness compensation, get ready to learn something new. The pay landscape has changed.

The House settlement allows schools to 鈥渟hare鈥� up to $20.5 million in revenue with their athletes this season, establishing a limit akin to pro sports leagues鈥� salary caps. That number will rise slightly from season to season.

Mizzou, like nearly every power conference program, will spend the full $20.5 million on its 2025-26 sports year rosters.

Functionally, though, it鈥檚 only $18 million: Southeastern Conference schools have agreed to count $2.5 million in added scholarships each toward the cap. Don鈥檛 sweat that detail too much, though. The key point is that the Tigers will be maxing out their revenue-sharing spending.

The more interesting revenue-sharing numbers may be the ones we don鈥檛 know: how MU will divvy up the money between its 18 sports teams.

Athletics director Laird Veatch has declined to specify, citing a competitive advantage. He has said that not all sports will receive revenue-sharing funds and that 鈥渢he bulk鈥� will go to football and men鈥檚 basketball.

That鈥檚 no surprise. Other schools that have shared their breakdowns often have football receiving 75% and men鈥檚 basketball 15% of the funds.

If Missouri uses the same split as its 2024 NIL spending, it may give a larger share to men鈥檚 basketball. But that remains to be seen.

Is NIL still a thing?

Yes, and it鈥檚 the next competitive frontier.

On top of the revenue sharing that will come directly from schools, athletes can receive third-party NIL deals, too. Schools could, for example, pay out $18 million in revenue sharing but have another $5 million in NIL funds.

It鈥檚 not that simple, though. Now, NIL deals worth more than $600 must be approved by a national clearinghouse that will vet them to make sure the athletes are doing a fair amount of promotional work to receive the money. In theory, the days of pay-for-play masquerading as NIL are over.

Finding this kind of NIL support will be vital for a program like Mizzou to compete in a conference like the SEC, where every school will meet the revenue-sharing cap and seek to stand out with extra NIL opportunities.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to need our businesses, our sponsors to really embrace that as part of the new era,鈥� Veatch said a few weeks ago when the settlement was approved.

Every True Tiger, the MU-affiliated marketing agency that has run the school鈥檚 NIL operations over the past couple of years, will also play a key role in helping arranging these deals 鈥� and in overseeing the distribution of revenue-sharing funds.

How will roster limits work?

The idea of roster limits held up settlement approval in federal court when U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken took issue with how they鈥檇 work. Scholarship limits will go away, but each sport will have a limit on how many players can be on the roster.

While that means more athletes will receive scholarships, there will be fewer overall spots for them 鈥� which was an issue many objectors to the settlement raised. The compromise to appease Wilken was that current athletes who鈥檇 stand to lose their roster spot could be grandfathered in and remain on the team, even if it pushes the roster above the limit, albeit at their school鈥檚 discretion.

Those players have been dubbed "designated student-athletes," and a list of them must be submitted by July 6. As of a few weeks ago, Missouri was still having internal discussions about how to handle DSAs.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something that we work with our coaches on,鈥� Veatch said. 鈥淭hey still have the authority and ability to determine their rosters.鈥�

What's next?

In one sense, college sports will enter a wait-and-see period. Will everyone play by these new rules? How strict will the NIL clearinghouse be? What will happen if (or when) there鈥檚 a breach of that procedure? How will schools鈥� cap management tactics evolve? What will the market for high school and transfer athletes look like? Which schools will be able to sustain the added expense of revenue-sharing?

There might not be as much patience in courtrooms, though. A legal challenge to the House settlement on the basis of Title IX and the vast majority of revenue-sharing funds heading to football and men鈥檚 basketball is in the works. Some legal experts have pondered whether the NIL clearinghouse could face an antitrust challenge. The courts are likely to continue shaping the future of college sports.

Is all of this good or bad for Mizzou?

It鈥檚 hard to say. The Tigers asserted themselves well during the NIL era, particularly after a progressive state law was passed in 2023. The recruiting success of Eli Drinkwitz and the MU football program since that point is not a coincidence.

Mizzou鈥檚 operational structure with Every True Tiger, which shifted from NIL collective to marketing agency a couple of years ago, ought to be a big benefit. There will be financial pressure on an athletics department that has run a deficit lately, but that鈥檚 not especially unique to Missouri.

Veatch and his department have been confident about MU鈥檚 plan of attack in the revenue-sharing era. It鈥檚 not a guarantee that recent success will continue, but the Tigers have momentum headed into this latest shift in the rules.