On Monday, a U.S. district court judge in the Southern District of New York dismissed a lawsuit brought by former Kansas basketball player Mario Chalmers and 15 other former college basketball players. The plaintiffs all played college basketball before June 15, 2016 — the proposed start date for the House settlement pending approval in the Northern District of California — meaning they would not be beneficiaries of that settlement. Accordingly, the former players sued the NCAA and the conferences in which their respective institutions competed, alleging that the defendants violated U.S. antitrust law by forcing the players to agree to amateurism rules and forgo compensation for use of their NIL while the NCAA and defendant conferences simultaneously generated revenue from use of the players’ NIL.

Judge Paul A. Engelmeyer first held that the former players’ claims were time-barred. Federal antitrust claims must be brought within four years of the alleged unlawful action, absent circumstances justifying an extension of that limitations period. Judge Engelmeyer held that the plaintiffs here, all of whom played between 1994 and 2016, fell outside of that four-year window, and extending the limitations period was not warranted. The court focused principally on the timing of the players’ agreement to the amateurism rules. Because the players agreed to these rules more than four years ago, the court held that the claims were time-barred. While the court acknowledged that the NCAA and its conferences may continue to benefit from use of the former players’ NIL through use of historical videos and other promotions, it held that this contemporaneous use was an “effect . . . of the alleged anticompetitive conduct,” and not a part of the anticompetitive conduct itself.

Beyond being time-barred, Judge Engelmeyer further found that plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the doctrine of res judicata, particularly because all plaintiffs fell within the definition of the injunctive relief class of athletes certified as part of litigation brought by Ed O’Bannon, former UCLA basketball player. In addition, the court pointed out that the claims of 10 of the 16 plaintiffs were further barred by virtue of their membership in the Alston class. Each of those 10 plaintiffs signed a settlement release that the court found “easily embraces” the claims brought by those same plaintiffs in the instant case.

Similar lawsuits, also brought by former NCAA student-athletes, remain pending across the U.S., including those brought by Kris Jenkins, Terrelle Pryor, Reggie Bush, Thurl Bailey, and Braylon Edwards.