Oregon State athletics is headed into a new world starting this fall. It’s financially rewarding for many athletes, challenging but necessary to remain competitive for the school, and possibly damaging to walk-on hopefuls and some non-revenue sports. It’s the result of the House vs. NCAA settlement – which is awaiting court approval – that gives schools the option to share as much as $20.5 million in revenue with its athletes starting with the 2025-26 school year. As a member of the old Pac-12, Oregon State is automatically opted-in to the settlement. Schools can share up to 22% of its revenue with athletes, up to a cap of $20.5 million. Schools can share revenue at any percentage up to 22%. With Oregon State bringing name, image and likeness in-house, athletes can get direct payments from the school for NIL, graduation bonuses, Alston academic benefits and educational incentives. Dam Nation will continue to function, providing additional NIL opportunities to OSU athletes. Athletic director Scott Barnes said it’s too early to say how much Oregon State will dedicate to revenue sharing “but it won’t be the cap number. Let me say this about the $20.5 million. There will be more schools that don’t reach that than do.” What Barnes promises is that Oregon State’s revenue share total “will be competitive and relevant against those that we’ve always recruited against. That’s our goal.” Barnes said Oregon State’s final revenue sharing total may not be known until well into the school year, as the money raised comes from a combination of “our philanthropic efforts, on revenue generation and the marketplace.” One known revenue source is a $3 ticket surcharge for all Oregon State home sporting events, starting next school year. One big change from the settlement are roster limits. No longer will Oregon State have a limit on scholarship athletes, plus walk-ons, for each sport. Now, each sport has a roster cap, with each member of the roster eligible for scholarship compensation and revenue sharing benefits. But it also means the end for a lot of walk-on athletes. For example, football will have a roster limit of 105 players for the 2025 season. The 105 players can be on scholarship, including some on partial, and a few could be walk-ons. But the roster cannot exceed 105 players. The Beavers have often had 110 to 125 players on football rosters in previous years – 85 on scholarship, the rest as walk-ons. Barnes believes most FBS schools will remain close to 85 football scholarships, with the remaining athletes as walk-ons, but eligible for NIL and academic bonuses. Roster limits for other Oregon State sports in 2025-26 are men’s and women’s basketball (15), baseball (34), women’s track & field (45), men’s and women’s golf (9), gymnastics (20), men’s and women’s soccer (28), volleyball (18), softball (25), men’s and women’s rowing (65) and wrestling (30). All sports can offer full or partial scholarships – there can also be walk-ons -- but cannot exceed the roster cap. Oregon State plans to provide each head coach with a “bucket of resources” that includes scholarship money and benefits, including NIL. Barnes said the annual dollar figure for each sport has yet to be determined. “It’s one of those things where the plane is leaving the runway as we build it, because everything’s coming so quickly,” Barnes said. “It’s not like a switch flips and all of a sudden we magically have a bunch of money. We’re out actively raising it.” The settlement has consequences, and one are cuts in certain areas of OSU athletics to help offset additional expenses. Barnes said the priority will be revenue sports. Currently, football and men’s basketball are the only sport that consistently turn a profit. Some sports, such as women’s basketball and baseball, produce a significant amount of revenue. But other sports, ones that generate little in the way of ticket or television revenue, could see cutbacks. Barnes said he does not plan layoffs, but each time a staff position opens, “we’ll have to decide whether than position is actually something we want to continue to fund, or use those dollars elsewhere.” Regarding the future of sports like gymnastics, rowing, golf and other sports that generate little revenue, Barnes said “it’s going to be tough to fund those at the level they’re at. The settlement has unintended consequences. … the new expenses, those dollars have to come from somewhere. In prioritizing revenue sports, there will be some reductions over time in Olympic sports.” Barnes said while some FBS schools are folding their collectives, Dam Nation and Oregon State will continue to work together. Dam Nation currently provides all of Oregon State’s NIL assistance, collecting all donations toward that front, as well as partnerships with businesses looking for commercial relationships with OSU athletes. While Dam Nation continues to function in raising money and financial opportunities, with distribution to Oregon State athletes, its primary function will be increasing memberships and providing commercial relationships with athletes. When it comes to future monetary NIL donations, most people will give to Oregon State Foundation, rather than Dam Nation. This has to do with the tax status. Donors giving money to Dam Nation do not get a tax write off, as it does not have 501(c)(3) status, while the Foundation does. “I’m actually all for that,” Dam Nation co-founder Kyle Bjornstad said. “They should have the tax deductability.” Businesses that hire Oregon State athletes for commercial purposes get a tax write off as it is an expense, but simple donations to Dam Nation are not deductible. Why doesn’t Dam Nation have 501(c)(3) non-profit status, as is the case with some collectives? Bjornstad believes what Dam Nation does is not charitable work. “I don’t ever want to get in trouble down the road and put myself in a bad spot with that,” Bjornstad said. “I know eventually (the IRS) were going to kind of put the hammer down on things like that.” Bjornstad is hopeful Oregon State donors continue to purchase a membership to Dam Nation, which starts at $10/month. Members receive various perks, such as merchandise and meet-and-greets. Dam Nation currently has 438 members. Bjornstad believes there is a strong future for Dam Nation, even if some of the NIL resources shift to Oregon State. He sees Dam Nation as a “value-add” to OSU. “My focus will shift a little bit from taking in donations, but we still have a lot other things that can bring in resources that can be of value to the school,” Bjornstad said. --Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel. Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.