Lawsuit Filed Against NCAA For Violation Of Sherman Act

A consortium of states filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the NCAA’s transfer regulation for collegiate athletes is illegal due to antitrust statutes.

Lawsuit Filed Against NCAA For Violation Of Sherman Act

The complaint, which was submitted in the northern district of West Virginia, contests the NCAA’s right to require certain players to move schools and wait a year before they become eligible again. In their lawsuit, the NCAA Division I players claimed that the restriction “unjustifiably restrains their ability to engage in the market for their labor.”

Allegations of Sherman Act breaches are made in the case brought by West Virginia and six other states.

On Wednesday, lawyers Jeff Kessler and Steve Berman filed a lawsuit against the Power Five conferences and the NCAA. They stood in for Stanford women’s soccer player Nya Harrison, TCU women’s basketball star Sedona Prince, and Duke football player DeWayne Carter.

The goal of the case is to overturn NCAA and conference regulations that forbid colleges from paying athletes directly “for their athletic services.” In an antitrust action, it also demands “substantial damages” for Power Five football and basketball players.

Multi-time transfer athletes must still sit out a year in residence and forfeit a season of eligibility unless they are granted a waiver for immediate eligibility, even if the NCAA approved a one-time, penalty-free transfer regulation in April 2021.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein stated that the waiver procedure is the goal in an interview with The Associated Press.

“As long as the kid is in good academic standing and on track to graduate, that kid should be able to decide for him or herself what’s in their best interest, for their personal growth, their happiness, their economic opportunity,” Stein said. “That is absolutely the American Way. And that’s a requirement of federal law. The rule offends that requirement.”

The case requests a permanent injunction against the multi-time transfer regulation, claiming it violates antitrust laws. Through a spokesman, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also disclosed that the plaintiffs planned to request a temporary restraining order in order to get a preliminary injunction.

According to the complaint, forcing athletes to sit might result in them losing out on sponsorship deals using their name, image, and likeness (NIL) or their professional careers. The statement, “One game can take a college athlete from a local fan favorite to a household name,” highlights the exposure that comes with participating in national broadcasts.

“It is ironic that this rule, stylized as promoting the welfare of college athletes, strips them of the agency and opportunity to optimize their own welfare as they see fit,” the lawsuit said.

Charlie Baker, the president of the NCAA, put out a proposal on Tuesday that would let colleges pay athletes directly.

Unlike the existing system, which mostly handles NIL through booster-led collectives, Baker advocated a Division I subdivision of schools that could pay players directly through NIL and trust funds.

In order to participate in the scheme, schools would have to contribute a minimum of $30,000 year per athlete to the trust fund. There would be no upper limit as long as the schools complied with Title IX regulations and allocated 50% of their funds to women’s sports.

 

 

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