A federal judge in Oakland, California, has signed off on a more than $208 million settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and athletes who brought a class action against the organization in an attempt make more money available to players to cover the cost of attending college.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California granted final approval of the settlement on Dec. 6. She also approved more than $41 million in attorney fees to class counsel, making up 20 percent of the overall award.

“Plaintiffs' counsel, who have litigated numerous antitrust and other matters against the NCAA over the years, believe this is an exceptional result for the proposed class,” Wilken wrote in her opinion signing off on the fees. “As this court knows, antitrust matters against the NCAA involve unique arguments and have had narrow historical success. And the NCAA has been willing to devote significant resources to vigorously defending them, including on appeal. Thus, not only is the monetary size of the settlement a major benefit to the class, the likelihood of near-term payout is also significant.”

According to Wilken, the average recovery for an athlete who played a sport for four years would be $6,000.

In addition to the more than $41 million class counsel are set to receive as attorney fees, they are to receive roughly $3 million to cover litigation costs. The four class representatives have been given $20,000 each in services awards.

Wilken said the plaintiffs counsel's efforts culminated in an “exceptional result” for their clients, while adding that their cut of the settlement was “below market value” of the 25 percent benchmark.

“Here, the results are exceptional because counsels' efforts created a $208,664,445 fund for the class (nearly 100 percent single damages at time of settlement and 66 percent of single damages currently). Far lesser results (with 20 percent recovery of damages or less) have justified upward departures from the 25 percent benchmark. The results achieved are even more substantial when considering the actual recovery amounts,” the judge said.

Co-lead class counsel Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Raoul Kennedy of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, the firm representing the NCAA, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In December 2015, Wilken certified classes of Division 1 football and basketball players who claim the NCAA violated antitrust law by capping player compensation at less than the total cost that athletes actually have to pay to attend college.

The order followed a 2014 win for athletes, in which Wilken ruled the NCAA must allow member schools to pay licensing revenue when their images are used on television and in video games.

Ruling following a bench trial in O'Bannon v. NCAA, she required the NCAA to allocate licensing revenue by upping its scholarship caps to cover the full cost of attendance, and to allow member schools to pay athletes up to $5,000 in additional licensing revenue. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck the $5,000 payment portion of the ruling in September, and plaintiffs have filed a petition for re-hearing en banc.