On Thursday, the NCAA and five of the biggest conferences agreed to a settlement that will instantly shake up the collegiate sports landscape.

There are a few different areas of the sport that will be affected by the monumental change, one of those being new limits on both scholarships and roster spots.

Once a federal judge approves the settlement, the men's and women's cross country programs will have at most 17 scholarships available and 17 roster spots.

• Sean Carlson named the new Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at Colorado
• The Top Five Women's XC teams to watch this fall season
• The Top Five Men's XC teams to watch this fall season
• You can read the full settlement here
  

For track and field, the men's and women's programs will have a scholarship and roster limit of 45. 

Distance runners who compete in both sports will take up a spot for both sports.

The settlement opens the door for schools to invest more money into their sports which generate revenue, such as football and basketball. But while new scholarship limits exist for track and field and cross country, schools will not be obligated to fulfill those extended numbers to the max. 

For programs which don't generate a lot of revenue, it could potentially lead to budget costs, or even the possibility of the program being cut entirely. Universities will only be required to follow the roster and scholarship limits if they opt in to distribute revenue among their athletes.

If approved by a federal judge, this will take effect at the beginning of the 2025-2026 academic year.

When Are The Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

The Olympics begin on July 26 and end on August 11. The track and field events will begin on Aug. 1. 

FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year

Don’t miss all the track and field season action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

Join The Track & Field Conversation On Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloTrack
• Follow us on Instagram @flotrack
• Follow us on TikTok @flotracktv
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook