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Christopher M. Brolley

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Chris concentrates his practice on federal and statewide product liability litigation through his representation of pharmaceutical and medical device companies involving mass tort, personal injury, and wrongful death claims across the U.S. He also represents clients at the state and federal level in matters ranging from breach of contract and corporate governance to data privacy and security. Chris advises higher educational institutions of all sizes, including colleges and universities, on Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compliance issues. He provides comprehensive guidance on permissible and impermissible NIL activities and navigating state NIL laws, NCAA Bylaws, and other NCAA policies. Chris creates and implements tailored strategies for mitigating the potential risk of NCAA and state attorney general enforcement activity. He co-hosts the firm's Highway to NIL podcast that discusses the legal landscape and developments in the area of NIL law.

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In this episode of Highway to NIL, Troutman Pepper Locke attorneys Cal Stein and Chris Brolley discuss the recent Q&A document released by the NCAA and conferences, focusing on the guidance providing clues for how enforcement may look under the College Sports Commission in the post-House settlement landscape. Among other topics, they examine the role of the College Sports Commission in investigating NIL rule violations, the arbitration process for contested penalties, and enforcement issues related to high school and transfer athletes. The episode also covers compliance with roster limits, the benefits cap, and scrutiny of third-party NIL deals involving associated entities.

The newly formed College Sports Commission has named its first two executive leaders as it begins formal operations in the wake of the House v. NCAA settlement. Bryan Seeley[1] will serve as the commission’s inaugural chief executive officer and Jonathan Bramlette[2] will serve as its director of operations…

A week after the approval of the $2.5 billion class action settlement of House v. NCAA (settlement), the NCAA and defendant conferences (i.e., Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference) released a question and answer document (Q&A Guidance) providing guidance on the settlement’s implementation. This post covers insights from some of the Q&A Guidance for Division I membership to consider on the eve of radical collegiate athletic change.

A three-page memo distributed to schools provides further clarity regarding Deloitte’s role as the approved clearinghouse for name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, as outlined in the House settlement and guidance documents. Deloitte’s NIL clearinghouse and review platform will be known as “NIL Go.” We briefly addressed the role of the NIL clearinghouse in a previous blog post.

On May 7, the parties in House v. NCAA submitted supplemental briefs in response to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s April 23 order[1] requiring both parties to address her concerns over the issue of roster limits. These briefs (i) revised the terms of the proposed settlement agreement and (ii) detailed how the revisions would ensure “that members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class will not be harmed by the immediate implementation of the roster limits provisions.”[2]

On April 23, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken temporarily rejected the terms of the settlement in House v. NCAA, effectively issuing an ultimatum to the parties: fix the roster limits issue or risk blowing up the settlement. We have discussed the House case and the terms of the settlement in several NIL Revolution blog posts and Highway to NIL podcast episodes.

Recently, Pennsylvania’s Saint Francis University announced its decision to reclassify its intercollegiate athletics program from NCAA Division I to Division III, citing the difficulty in governance associated with college athletics, which is only growing in “complexity based on realities like the transfer portal, pay-for-play, and other shifts that move athletics away from love of the game.” Saint Francis is the first school to reclassify its athletics programs in response to the pending House settlement.

On March 13, the NCAA issued guidance in the form of a Q&A defining the scope of the eligibility waiver it previously approved on December 23, 2024, for student-athletes who have competed at non-NCAA institutions, such as junior colleges (JUCO) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) schools. The December 2024 waiver[1] extended an extra year of eligibility in the 2025-26 academic year to student-athletes who previously “competed at a non-NCAA school for one or more years,” and otherwise would have exhausted their NCAA eligibility following the 2024-25 season.