The House settlement has been approved, so now the college landscape has changed. Ohio State now has to figure out what they are going to do with not just its football and basketball programs, but all of its sports. They have a lot of non-revenue-generating sports, as well.
Ross Bjork talked before the settlement was approved that he was committing to keeping all 36 sports that they have. While that was good to talk about before things were finalized, it's a different animal now that there is an NIL budget. That budget could limit the other sports.
With the NIL budget sitting at $20.5 million for this year, that could limit spending on the non-revenue-generating sports. Bjork seems committed to doing whatever it takes to make sure that doesn't happen. He is committed to keeping as many sports as possible.
Ross Bjork commits to keeping all 36 Ohio State sports
Bjork has been a big proponent of NIL. It's part of the reason why Ted Carter decided to hire him. He could see that things were changing, and they wanted someone who could guide them through some uncertain waters. Bjork continues to show that he can do that.
However, Bjork likely needs to rein in his spending. The athletic department had a $38 million deficit last year, so they have to figure that out. That is not a sustainable model, no matter how much money the football program brought in from an extended College Football Playoff run.
Ohio State's football program subsidizes a lot of the non-revenue-generating sports. How well that continues will determine the future fate of some of these sports. It's commendable that Ohio State is committed to not cutting sports like some other programs around the country.
This year will really be a test case on how well they can balance all of that spending.