Settlement designed to pay college athletes gets preliminary approval

College athletes moved one significant step closer Monday to a future in which they can be paid directly by their schools.

Judge Claudia Wilken granted preliminary approval to the terms of an industry-changing antitrust settlement Monday morning, accepting a series of changes made by attorneys representing all Division I athletes, the NCAA and its Power Five conferences.

Wilken initially raised concerns that some elements of the settlement would limit future payments to players and fail to pass legal muster, but she wrote in her ruling this week that the court “will likely be able to approve the settlement as fair, reasonable and adequate.”