Coach Dusty May and the Michigan Wolverines players celebrate after beating the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship Game at Gainbridge Field House on March 16, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Aaron J. Thornton | Getty Images
Global payment company PayPal On Thursday, it signed a contract with the Big Ten and Big 12 meetings, which announced that student-athletes will be able to receive compensation through the fintech company’s platform.
The announcement comes weeks after the court settlement in the House v. NCAA case. This dramatically changes the university’s sports landscape by allowing schools to compensate student-athletes for the first time. The settlement will allow individual schools to distribute up to $20 million to current athletes over the next year, providing up to $2.8 billion in compensation to former players across the NCAA.
With the new agreement, the Big Ten and Big 12 athletic divisions can distribute these payments using PayPal only.
Paypal said the initial development is expected to begin this summer. The House of Representatives settlement will come into effect on July 1st.
The agreement will allow students from Big Ten and Big 12 universities to receive compensation quickly and safely, PayPal said. The company added that students also have the option to pay university tuition via PayPal.
“We are proud to guide this transformation in college athletics by making it easier and faster.
“To continue to bring student-athletes paid and innovative commercial solutions to campus life,” PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss said in a statement.
PayPal’s mobile payment service Venmo is also expanding its position in university sports.
Venmo will become the first ever presentation partner in the Big Ten Rival Rally Series and serve as the official partner in the Big 12 Conference. The company is also working with Big Ten and Big 12 schools to enable students to use Venmo in university bookstores and is working with Campus Athletics for items such as tickets, concessions and merchandise.
The Big Ten Conference expanded to 18 schools last August. It includes the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University, University of Michigan and Ohio State University. The Big 12 Conference includes 16 schools, including Arizona State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Houston.
