With Kirk San Roman
It was one year ago that Cal State Fullerton Athletic Director Jim Donovan and I sat down to discuss what has become known as the House Case Settlement. While that answered some questions and officially opened the door for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) payments to student-athletes, revenue sharing, player agents, and increased NCAA scholarship limits, more issues would continue to surface, prompting more questions for Mr. Donovan.
As many of you know, in March 2026, Jim announced that he would be retiring, likely effective at an undetermined date this summer, as a new A.D. is still in the process of being selected, with many important decisions ahead for him or her as early as the coming school year.
Before we get into the Q&A, I would like to sincerely thank Jim for the 13 years of work he has done tirelessly for Titan Athletics and for setting up the next Cal State Fullerton A.D. for success.
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SAN ROMAN: Jim, we're now one year into the House Case Settlement. What has that meant, in practical terms, to Cal State Fullerton Athletics?
DONOVAN: Like most NCAA Division I mid-major athletics programs, we're still trying to adjust and adapt to the significant changes the House Case Settlement allowed. It's certainly frustrating for our head coaches because some Power 4 conference programs are literally buying talent from other schools, and literally outbidding mid-majors that go up against them. We're seeing that school, program culture, facilities, and tradition do have an inherent value, but if a student-athlete is offered somewhere around $60,000 to $100,000 in NIL money, our student-athletes will transfer. I will say that we are also seeing that talented student-athletes from Power 4 and other mid-major programs are transferring to Cal State Fullerton because of who we are, so we're benefiting to a degree, too.
SAN ROMAN: One of the key issues from a year ago was revenue-sharing with our Titan student-athletes. While an internal plan was put together, implementation was blocked at the CSU level. Has there been any movement on that issue?
DONOVAN: We took an innovative approach to revenue sharing that we were not able to get approved in time this past semester to make a disbursement, but I wouldn't say it was outright blocked. What we proposed was to take 22% of the revenue generated from ticket sales, corporate sponsorships, and licensing, with the goal of distributing an equal share to all student-athletes on our rosters.
Additionally, our coaches could use donated NIL funds to support specific student-athletes. Most other Division I CSU athletics programs are paying NIL to a few of their student-athletes, with the majority of the funds being paid to male student-athletes. Our concern was that there might be a successful Title IX lawsuit or claim in the future, and our plan would have avoided that issue because the majority of revenue shared in our plan would go to our female student-athletes, as approximately 58% of our athletic opportunities are for women. I'm sure the next Athletics Director will come up with their own strategy on NIL and revenue sharing and implement it for Titan Athletics.
SAN ROMAN: With NCAA scholarship size limits raised almost across the board, were we able to increase the number of scholarships given for any of our sports programs in 2025-26?
DONOVAN: With the exception of a one-time baseline increase for the addition of men's and women's water polo in 2021, Titan Athletics has not received any increases in baseline funding since 2016. We receive a little less than half of our funding from student fees, which are increased annually for inflation. Campus enrollment has increased somewhat in each of the past 4 years, resulting in additional student fee funding. Because of this, we were able to increase the following scholarship budgets: Titan Baseball by $65,000, Titan Softball by $60,000, and Titan Women's Soccer by $30,000. This ratio meets Title IX requirements with about 42% of funding to men and 58% to women – matching our undergraduate population ratio. Effectively, Titan Baseball went from 11.7 scholarships to about 14, and we plan to eventually reach 34 to meet the new scholarship limit, resulting from the House Case Settlement.
SAN ROMAN: Has the House Case Settlement simply made for an even more unbalanced playing field for mid-majors like Cal State Fullerton?
DONOVAN: There's no question that the House Case Settlement, and the new rules that have come from that settlement, have created an even more imbalanced playing field for Cal State Fullerton and other Division I mid-major athletics programs. Because Power 4 conference schools have huge television contracts, funding from the football bowl playoff, and football ticket sales and donations, they have tens of millions of dollars to pay out to their student-athletes and coaches. Titan Athletics budget for the 2024-2025 academic year was $27.8 million. The television revenue received by Big 10 and SEC schools is estimated at more than $60 million annually. A March 14, 2024, USA Today report shows that there are 46 Division I athletic programs with budgets exceeding $100 million – and that data is two years old.
SAN ROMAN: Can you explain the NCAA's recently-approved 5-for-5 rule? Will that prevent the proverbial '8th year senior?'
DONOVAN: The NCAA was facing an ever-growing caseload in student-athlete lawsuits wishing to have courts overturn the NCAA decisions on clock extension and eligibility denials. With blanket waivers for COVID and other waivers for injury, etc., some student-athletes were able to stay eligible for quite some time. Six to seven years has not been unusual. The new legislation, with very few exceptions - for example, pregnancy, military service, religious mission, etc., will have the 5-year eligibility 'clock' start the fall semester after their senior year of high school. A student-athlete can play all five years, but there will be no redshirt years or exceptions for injuries or, generally, for other reasons. Practically speaking, most student-athletes will get an extra year to play, if they choose, and it should substantially reduce the number of lawsuits related to eligibility extensions.
SAN ROMAN: Recently, Congress has become involved with the Protect College Sports Act, which seems to have drawn the ire of both the SEC and Big 10 power conferences. Although it is not law, and may never be, can you provide us with some of the key proposals, and how they may benefit Cal State Fullerton?
DONOVAN: The Protect College Sports Act is a bipartisan collaboration between Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). At a high level, this bill will provide the NCAA with a limited antitrust exemption and includes other important features and requirements, including federally codifying NIL payments to student-athletes, and keeping open the possibility of student-athletes being able to collectively bargain in the future.
One of the requirements will address agents working with student-athletes – an area that currently is the equivalent of 'The Wild West.' There are numerous aspects of this bill that are very important, but in my opinion, the limited antitrust exemption for the NCAA is critical if we are to 'save' intercollegiate athletics as we have known it for about a century.
SAN ROMAN: Jim, if you were the 'czar' of intercollegiate athletics, what changes would you like to see implemented so it's not just the Power 4 versus everyone else?
DONOVAN: This is a hypothetical question, and I'm usually reticent to answer hypothetical questions. However, as 'czar,' I would first work to get limited antitrust for the NCAA. Once a limited antitrust status was obtained, I'd then bring a representative group of NCAA Division I CEO's together to see if they could come to a consensus on:
1) Annual salary cap for athletic department personnel payroll: One cap for Division I programs with football, and another lower cap for Division I programs without football.
2) Establish maximum and minimum total institutional amounts to be paid as NIL to student-athletes annually, with an expedited process to determine Title IX issues.
3) To agree to a financial penalty structure for institutions that don't abide by #1 and #2, to be distributed equally to institutions that do abide.
4) Develop a consensus on a percentage of revenue generated after #1 and #2 are funded, to be returned annually to each campus for academic purposes.
5) Work with Congress to provide student-athletes with collective bargaining rights for #2, but not requiring them to become employees of their universities.
6) Ensure access to NCAA post-season competition for all conferences and institutions that abide with the above.
SAN ROMAN: What would you like your successor as A.D. to know about the Titan family, including our coaches and student-athletes?
DONOVAN: First and foremost, I wish my successor ALL the very best! I feel like the analogy for the situation is: We are running a relay race, and I just finished running a lap – I didn't run a perfect lap, but I did the best I could with what I had. As I pass the baton to my successor, I want to do anything I can to help them run a faster time and a better lap than I did.
I'd also like them to know that we have very dedicated coaches, administrators, staff, and student-athletes, who have tremendous Titan Pride!! We have had great success over the years because of hard work, belief, and the intentional culture of 'Developing Leaders for our Future,' using Titan Athletics as an outstanding leadership tool. We all know there are many more exceptional victories and championships ahead – 'Go run a faster and better lap!!'
SAN ROMAN: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
DONOVAN: I'd like to thank every Titan fan, supporter, donor, alum, corporate sponsor, letter winner, and season ticket holder – EVERYONE who has helped Cal State Fullerton and Titan Athletics over the years!
Twice a year, every year for 13 years, I've told our student athletes: We stand on the shoulders of those that have come before us… We owe so much of our success at Titan Athletics to all of those mentioned above, as well as our campus partners and our community!
I humbly and sincerely thank ALL of you very much for EVERYTHING over the years!!
GO TITANS!!
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