The era of revenue sharing in college athletics is upon us. After a federal judge finally signed off on a massive $2.8 billion settlement between the NCAA and lawyers representing student athletes, schools will be able to directly pay players for their talents as soon as July 1.

The Big 12's agreement is worth nearly $100 million over five years and was born in 2024 after PayPal entered into discussions to buy naming rights for the conference, sources told CBS Sports. The Big 12 opted not to pursue selling its naming rights, but this partnership was the result.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), a global leader in payments, today announced multi-year agreements with the Big Ten and Big 12 Conferences that will modernize the distribution of institutional payments from universities to student-athletes in a new revenue-sharing model.