Legal Cases and Settlements

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Rutgers University football player Jett Elad is one of the latest student-athletes to file a federal antitrust lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.[1] Elad’s lawsuit challenges what he calls the NCAA’s “arbitrary and unreasonable” application of its new waiver allowing student-athletes who attended and competed at a non-NCAA school (e.g., junior college (JUCO)) for one or more years to remain eligible to compete in 2025-26 academic year (JUCO Waiver).

How NCAA Division I conferences choose to deal with the implications of the House, et al., v. NCAA, et al. settlement, and in particular the revenue-sharing mechanism known as the “pool,” has been the subject of much speculation and debate. Commentators have asked whether conferences will require participation, or leave…

Texas’s biennial legislature is in session, and revamping Texas’ name, image, and likeness (NIL) laws to keep up with the developments across the U.S. seems to be a hot topic. As of the date of this post, state representatives have filed seven bills that would affect NIL in the state and potentially allow Texas high schoolers to benefit from their NIL.

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia denied a request from a D-1 baseball player for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the NCAA related to his eligibility, as well as a preliminary injunction for the same. Dylan Goldstein, an outfielder for his school’s baseball team, sought immediate reinstatement for the 2024-2025 academic year after exhausting his eligibility under current NCAA Bylaws.

One major issue underlying the pending House v. NCAA settlement is its impact on international students on F-1 student visas (academic student). As analyzed in a previous episode of Highway to NIL, if approved, the House settlement will allow Division I schools to directly compensate their student-athletes for their name, image, and likeness (NIL) as part of a revenue-sharing system. However, international students may jeopardize their status within the U.S. if they accept this money.

At the end of January, the Ivy League, a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I conference, announced that it is opting out of the settlement reached in House v. NCAA. The settlement, which was reached as a result of negotiations among current and former student-athletes, the Autonomous Five conferences (the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern Conference), and the NCAA, proposes a $2.8 billion resolution of claims against the conferences and NCAA that they unlawfully prevented student-athletes from receiving a share of various revenue streams associated with their athletic participation.

Six former East Mississippi Community College football players who appeared in the documentary series Last Chance U have sued the school, Netflix, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the documentary’s executive director in Los Angeles County Superior Court over their portrayal of the athletes. Plaintiffs John Franklin III, Ronald Ollie, C.J. Reavis, Deandre Johnson, Tim Bonner, and Isaiah Wright, all of whom played football at East Mississippi Community College in 2015 and 2016, allege the defendants wrongfully misappropriated their likeness and that they were not compensated for their work. In total, the plaintiffs are seeking $30 million in damages.