The NCAA volunteer coach lawsuit settlement is actually two settlements totaling more than $350 million: a $303 million deal in Ray v. NCAA covering former Division I volunteer coaches in every sport except baseball, and a separate $49.25 million deal in Smart v. NCAA covering baseball. Both were approved by Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California. Payments are calculated per coach based on the school, the sport, and the number of years served as a volunteer.
Who Qualifies
Eligibility depends on which case covers your sport and when you coached.
Ray v. NCAA covers anyone who worked as a designated volunteer coach for a Division I sports program in any sport other than baseball between March 17, 2019 and June 30, 2023. The certified class includes 7,718 former coaches across 44 sports, including softball, wrestling, track and field, and ice hockey.
Smart v. NCAA covers volunteer baseball coaches at Division I programs between November 29, 2018 and July 1, 2023. That class runs to roughly 1,000 coaches.
The “volunteer” label is what created the class. Under NCAA Bylaw 11.7.6, in force from 1992 until July 1, 2023, Division I programs could designate one coaching staff member per team as a volunteer who received no salary, wages, health insurance, housing, meals, or retirement contributions. If you held that designation during the relevant window, you’re in the class regardless of how many hours you actually worked.
How Much You Can Get
Individual payouts are not flat amounts. They’re calculated using the actual compensation paid during the class period to the lowest-paid non-volunteer coach on the same team, treating that figure as a proxy for what a volunteer would have earned in an open market. Your payment then scales with the number of years you served.
For Ray, the minimum payment is $5,000 and the average is about $27,000. Because the formula ties payouts to what peer coaches at the same school actually earned, a volunteer at a Power conference program will receive materially more than one at a smaller Division I school. Of the $303 million fund, $208.4 million goes directly to coaches, $90.9 million to attorneys’ fees, and $3.6 million to litigation costs. The five named plaintiffs each received $25,000 incentive awards.1
For Smart, each baseball class member is guaranteed at least $5,000 per full academic year of service. One report calculated payouts at roughly $36,000 per year of volunteer service, with coaches who spent multiple years at larger programs eligible for six-figure sums. The $49.25 million fund is reduced by attorneys’ fees of up to 30 percent ($14.775 million), costs of up to $1.5 million, service awards for named plaintiffs not exceeding $15,000 total, and administration fees.
How To File A Claim
The two settlements use different administrators and portals, so use the one that matches your sport.
Ray (all sports except baseball). The claim deadline was June 2, 2026. Claims were submitted online at ncaavolunteercoachlawsuit.com or by mail. The administrator is A.B. Data, Ltd., reachable at 877-390-3148 or info@ncaavolunteercoachlawsuit.com. Class counsel advised claimants to keep any records of their volunteer coaching service in case documentation is needed to resolve discrepancies in the employment data the NCAA produced.
Smart (baseball). Eligible baseball coaches submit their current address and a W-9 through volunteerbaseballcoachsettlement.com. The administrator is Kroll Settlement Administration LLC.
One warning worth heeding: third-party companies have been approaching class members with offers to buy their future settlement payouts in exchange for an immediate lump sum. Class counsel flagged these at the approval hearing as “low-ball” offers, in some cases as little as 15 percent of the expected payout, and urged coaches to be careful before signing anything.
Why The NCAA Paid
The lawsuits alleged that the NCAA and its roughly 350 Division I member schools operated as a buyer-side cartel that fixed the price of volunteer coaching labor at zero, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Volunteer coaches, plaintiffs said, did the same work as their paid colleagues: running practices, developing game strategy, traveling with teams, and recruiting. Filings described weeks of more than 40 hours, five or six days, for years, without pay.
Wayne Pettry, a former volunteer assistant softball coach at James Madison University, called it “a full-time job without being paid for it.” He said he financed the work with credit cards and seasonal shifts as a UPS delivery helper during school breaks before leaving coaching entirely.
In January 2023, the NCAA’s Division I Council voted to eliminate the volunteer coach designation effective July 1, 2023, reclassifying those positions as “countable coaches” eligible for pay. Several sports, including baseball, softball, and ice hockey, saw their total allowable paid coaches rise to four. Within a year of the change, more than half of Division I schools had begun paying the positions.
The rule change did not moot the damages claims for coaches who had worked without pay before the switch.
Where The Cases Stand Now
Both settlements have received final court approval.
Judge Shubb granted final approval of the Smart baseball settlement on September 16, 2025.
He granted final approval of the Ray settlement on May 11, 2026, finding the deal a “fair and reasonable resolution” and noting that the coaches “faced numerous hurdles” in the litigation. The court also observed that the $303 million represented more than 100 percent of the class’s estimated single damages, calling it an “impressive result.”
The NCAA is paying the Ray settlement in three equal installments over two calendar years, so payments to class members will be distributed as those installments come in rather than as a single lump sum from the NCAA.
If you believe you qualify and missed the claims window for Ray, contact A.B. Data at the number above; late-claim treatment is at the administrator’s and court’s discretion. If you coached baseball, the Smart portal remains the correct starting point.