Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione wrote a letter on Monday to fans, detailing the school's approach to revenue sharing and gathering support.
At the beginning, Castiglione prefaces with stating that revenue sharing with student-athletes will arrive soon "due to the expected approval of the House vs. NCAA class action lawsuit settlement". Castiglione notes that Oklahoma plans to share the maximum allowed annual revenue of $20.5 million, starting July 1, 2025.
In the remaining body of the letter, Castiglione's message is divided into sections: Investment in Student-Athletes, Strategic Departmental Investing and Revenue Generation and The NIL of Tomorrow. The Investment in Student-Athletes portion certifies that OU is "increasing access to scholarships and creating the opportunity for many student-athletes to have greater financial stability through revenue sharing."
The next section over strategic investing discusses how OU plans to use the $20.5 million for "everything from reallocating existing funds for the purpose of revenue sharing to evaluating future ticket pricing and premium offerings across all sports." Lastly, in the NIL of Tomorrow section, Castiglione says that there will be new parameters for NIL after July 1, 2025 and that giving athletes financial support "will be OU’s primary competitive edge" in recruiting and maintaining top talent.
In closing, Castiglione calls upon fans to take part through The Inspiring Champions Fund (classroom and leadership support), 1Oklahoma (OU NIL collective), Sooner Sports Properties (business relations) and renewing Sooner Club memberships for football season tickets.
