Julie Roe Lach spent 15 years at the NCAA running enforcement before becoming Horizon League commissioner. Now she's joining Pacers Sports & Entertainment as executive vice president, and her career arc explains as much about where college sports is headed as any single conversation can.
Roe Lach breaks down the three distinct layers of the NIL landscape: direct athlete deals, booster-funded collectives, and the new school-level revenue sharing capped at $20.5 million per institution under the House settlement. She explains how the Collegiate Sports Commission is attempting to bring legitimacy to third-party deals and why the jury is still out on whether it will work. She also addresses conference realignment, the future of mid-major leagues like the Horizon League, and the financial literacy gaps facing college athletes who are suddenly earning significant income without the infrastructure to manage it.
Beyond college sports, Roe Lach discusses Indianapolis's ambition to become the capital of women's sports, including the WNBA All-Star Game takeover, the Marvella youth sports campus planned near Fair Oaks Farm, and the Indiana Sports Corp's 2050 vision built around five pillars. She also reflects on what it takes to earn trust when leading organizations governed by multiple university presidents and coaches who are skeptical from the start.
Roe Lach earned her J.D. cum laude from IU McKinney School of Law in 2004 and is an active member of the Indiana bar.
0:00 Introduction and Julie Roe Lach's Background
1:45 Playing Basketball at Millikin University
3:10 Why She Went to Law School and Joined the NCAA
6:00 How NCAA Enforcement Investigations Worked
9:30 NIL: From Prohibition to the House Settlement
15:45 Collectives, the CSC, and the $20.5 Million Cap
21:30 Conference Realignment and the Future of Mid-Majors
25:30 From NCAA to Law Practice to Horizon League
28:00 Managing 11 University Presidents as a Board
30:15 Enrollment, Federal Policy, and Campus Pressures
34:00 Financial Literacy for College Athletes
38:00 Joining Pacers Sports and Entertainment
39:30 The WNBA All-Star Game and the BOSS Summit
42:00 Marvella and the Women's Sports Campus
44:30 Indiana Sports Corp and the 2050 Vision
51:00 Earning Buy-In From Skeptical Coaches
54:30 Rapid-Fire Questions