NCAA Spends $63.5 Million On Outside Counsel In 2025, Five-Year Total Nears $300 Million

The NCAA increased its expenditure on outside counsel by 2% to nearly $63.5 million for the 2025 fiscal year (FY25), according to its latest tax return made public Friday.

As reported by Sportico, that number brings the NCAA’s five-year total on spending on outside counsel to $292.6 million.

The FY25 ran from Sept. 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025.

In the previous fiscal year, the NCAA spent $62.2 million on outside counsel.

The biggest beneficiary was the Washington-based law firm Wilkinson Stekloff, which received $19.6 million in FY25 after partner Rakesh Kilaru served as lead counsel for the NCAA in the House v. NCAA case that reached a resolution last June.

According to Bloomberg Law, Wilkinson Stekloff has received at least $56 million in legal fees from the NCAA since 2018.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner was the second-highest earning law firm, receiving $7.3 million. It represented the NCAA in its lawsuit with DraftKings over using trademarked phrases during March Madness.

The recently introduced Protect College Sports Act provides the NCAA with limited antitrust protection, primarily regarding player eligibility and transfer rules, which should is designed to help mitigate future expenses on outside counsel.

However, the NCAA’s recently approved age-based eligibility model has already led to lawsuit despite being less than a week old.

OTHER NCAA FY25 TAX REUTRN NOTES

Numbers according to Sportico

• The NCAA disclosed $372.3 million in legal settlements during FY25. Including the House settlement, its spent more than $3 billion in legal settlement costs over the last two fiscal cycles.
• The NCAA reported $1.56 billion in FY25, an increase of 14% from the prior fiscal year.
• It also reported $1.57 billion in expenses, which is nearly 60% less than the FY24. However, this is primarily due to the fact that the $2.7 billion in backpay damages paid out by the NCAA in the House settlement was credited to 2024.
• Television rights revenue increased by $171.6 million, up to $1.12 billion in FY25 from $948.4 million in FY24.
• The NCAA reported an employee count of 655, up more than 10% from the FY23 low of 591, which was due to post-pandemic cuts.
• NCAA President Charlie Baker earned $3.39 million in the 2024 calendar year, $3 million of which was in base salary.
• Former President Mark Emmert no longer appears on the NCAA’s payroll after receiving $6.3 million in deferred and other incentive compensation in FY24. Emmert retired in March 2023.