Saturday, June 7, 2025
To the Purdue Athletics Community,
We stand today at a pivotal crossroads in the history of Purdue Athletics. The court approved settlement of the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit is not just a legal milestone—it marks a new era of both challenge and opportunity for college sports. Meeting those challenges and capturing the opportunity will require bold vision, unwavering unity, and an unprecedented level of support from every member of the Purdue family.
The Financial Challenge—and Opportunity—ahead
The new settlement-authorized revenue sharing model introduces reforms that will fundamentally alter how we support our student-athletes. Beginning July 1, 2025, schools like Purdue will be able to directly share athletic revenues with student-athletes—up to an initial year annual cap of $20.5 million. This is a groundbreaking change, rebalancing the relationship between institutions and athletes, yet it also presents an enormous financial challenge.
At the same time, the NCAA will pay $2.6 billion in back damages to former student-athletes, funded by a reduction in revenue distributions to member schools. For Purdue, this means an estimated loss of $1.2 million per year in planned NCAA revenues for the next decade. These dual pressures—increased spending requirements and reduced revenue streams—tighten our financial landscape in ways we have never experienced before.
Revenue Sharing Cap: A Level Playing Field for Purdue
While the financial pressures are real, the revenue sharing cap presents Purdue with a unique and timely opportunity. In this new environment, all participating Division I institutions will operate with the same overall maximum limit on direct payments to student-athletes. This cap is intended to level the playing field in the highly competitive world of talent acquisition, ensuring that resource disparities between schools are minimized and that Purdue—through strategic resource allocation, innovation, and donor support—can recruit, develop and compete directly with the nation’s top programs.
This is our chance to maximize every dollar, every partnership, and every opportunity to attract and retain elite student-athletes. With disciplined investment and passionate support from the Purdue community, we can seize this moment to elevate our program, recruit top-tier talent, and enhance our proud tradition of excellence.
A Continued Commitment to Student-Athlete Success
While these changes reshape the landscape of intercollegiate athletics, Purdue’s core mission remains unchanged. We will continue to prioritize the academic achievement, personal growth and holistic development of our student-athletes. Our programs are designed not only to foster success in competition, but to prepare Boilermakers for life after graduation—equipping them with the skills, character, and resilience needed to excel in any arena.
Strategic Adaptation: Scholarships and Competitiveness
As sport-specific roster caps replace scholarship limits, we are committed to leveraging this flexibility to keep Purdue competitive at the highest level. In selected sports, increasing the number of athletic scholarships will be essential for attracting and retaining the best talent. Meeting this new financial demand will depend on continued—and expanded—support of the John Purdue Club. Your annual gifts will fund existing and expanded scholarship offerings, ensuring Purdue remains a destination for top student-athletes.
Student-Athlete Marketing and Brand-Building--NIL
In recognition of the transformative power of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) opportunities, and the need for our student-athletes to have access to this important component of today’s collegiate athletics model, Purdue is proud to announce the creation of Boiler BrandWorks, an in-house student-athlete marketing and brand-building unit. The mission of this unit will be to work directly with student-athletes to develop their personal brands and source meaningful NIL partnerships with donors, alumni, and businesses—both locally and nationally.
We invite every member of the Purdue community to play a role in this exciting initiative. If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or have connections to organizations that may be interested in partnering with our student-athletes, we encourage you to participate or refer those entities to us. Your efforts will help open doors for our student-athletes, amplifying their opportunities and strengthening Purdue’s competitive position in the NIL era.
University Partnership and Fiscal Responsibility
Our University leadership has made a clear and forward-looking commitment to partner with Purdue Athletics to ensure our ability to fully participate and compete within the framework of the new model. This partnership will provide meaningful support and alignment as we navigate the evolving landscape. At the same time, the expectation for fiscal responsibility within Athletics and the need to aggressively pursue revenue growth remains unchanged. We are committed to stewarding our resources wisely, making strategic financial decisions and upholding the highest standards of accountability to our supporters and the broader Purdue community.
Support Sport-Specific Excellence Through “Victories & Heroes: Your Campaign for Purdue”
To ensure every Purdue team has the resources needed to succeed, we urge you to support the recently launched and campus-wide Victories & Heroes: Your Campaign for Purdue initiative. Contributions to the Campaign designated for Athletics will provide essential resources for scholarships, equipment, travel, and other program enhancements. Your gifts to the Campaign empower our coaches and student-athletes to reach new heights and maintain Purdue’s tradition of pursuing excellence across all sports.
How You Can Make a Difference
Now, more than ever, your involvement will directly shape the future of Purdue Athletics. Here’s how you can help us rise to meet these challenges and opportunities:
• Join, renew or increase your membership in the John Purdue Club—your annual gifts fund student-athlete scholarships and will help us supplement scholarship offerings where it’s strategically impactful.
• Give to Victories & Heroes: Your Campaign for Purdue—make an impactful gift to provide essential resources for our teams or support capital/programmatic initiatives that align with your interests.
• Connect your business or refer others to partner with our student-athletes through Boiler BrandWorks, opening doors to mutually beneficial NIL opportunities.
A Call for Unity and Action
This moment requires all of us—alumni, fans, donors, and friends—to step up and be bold. The new revenue sharing cap environment presents an opportunity for Purdue to rise up and compete on an even footing with the best in the nation.
Your support is not just appreciated—it is absolutely essential. In the coming months, we will keep you informed about our progress and the tangible ways your contributions are making a difference.
Let’s forge ahead, together, and ensure that Purdue not only meets this moment but leads the way into a new era of excellence.
Boiler Up!
Mike Bobinski
Executive Vice President - Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
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Click here to learn more about the College Sports Commission, the organization that will facilitate revenue sharing in college sports and will ensure that name, image and likeness (NIL) deals made between student-athletes and third parties are fair and comply with the rules.
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