Last week, a Tennessee federal judge granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the NCAA from punishing recruits who negotiate NIL deals with boosters prior to signing with a school.[2] Before this ruling, only athletes already enrolled at a college could negotiate NIL deals with collectives and boosters. The court order is effective immediately and applies to all athletes in every state.
The antitrust lawsuit was filed by the attorney generals in Tennessee and Virginia on January 31, 2023, one day after the University of Tennessee chancellor revealed that the school’s athletic department was being investigated by the NCAA for potential recruiting violations.[3]
NCAA rules prohibit student athletes from signing NIL deals prior to committing to a school. The NCAA recently announced sanctions against Florida State’s football team for wrongfully inducing recruits to commit. In that case, FSU’s assistant football coach drove a prospect to a meeting with a leading member of the school’s NIL collective during the prospect’s official visit to campus in the Spring of 2022. During the encounter, the booster encouraged the recruit to enroll at FSU and offered him a $15,000 per month NIL deal as an inducement to play for FSU.[4]
The NCAA prohibits boosters from incentivizing prospects to attend a specific school through the promise of NIL deals.[5] Under the NCAA recruiting rules, meetings between boosters and prospects are prohibited because boosters are not authorized team recruiters.[6]
In their lawsuit, the attorney generals of Tennessee and Virginia argued that by preventing recruits and transfers from negotiating the terms of NIL deals prior to deciding what school they will attend, the NCAA is illegally restricting opportunities for student-athletes.[7]
U.S. District Court Judge Clifton Corker issued the preliminary injunction and wrote in his decision that, “The NCAA’s prohibition likely violates federal antitrust law and harms student-athletes.”[8] Croker further wrote in the decision that, “Without relief, the NCAA will continue to deprive Plaintiff States’ athletes of information about the market value for their NIL rights, thereby preventing them from obtaining full, fair-market value for those rights.”[9] The injunction is not a final decision in the case, but it will immediately impact how NIL deals are used in the recruiting process.
The NCAA is now restrained from enforcing any NIL compensation restrictions until a full and final decision is reached.[10] Depending on the outcome of this final decision, the NCAA may be forced to change its policies to allow recruits and transfers to negotiate NIL deals with boosters and collectives prior to signing with a school.
The NCAA has consistently argued that allowing recruits to negotiate NIL deals prior to signing with a college would hurt the amateur status of college sports. In light of this successful challenge, the NCAA may be forced to change its policies-only time will tell!
[1] Featured Image: https://www.linkedin.com/uas/login-submit
[2] https://theathletic.com/5295907/2024/02/23/tennessee-ncaa-nil-lawsuit-injunction/
[3] https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/39585390/ncaa-enforce-nil-rules-judge-grants-injunction
[4] https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39289391/ncaa-penalizes-florida-state-football-nil-rule-violations
[5] https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39289391/ncaa-penalizes-florida-state-football-nil-rule-violations
[6] https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/01/12/florida-state-ncaa-violations/
[7] https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/39585390/ncaa-enforce-nil-rules-judge-grants-injunction
[8] https://nypost.com/2024/02/23/sports/federal-judge-nil-ruling-throws-ncaa-into-chaos/
[9] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-judge-grants-injunction-tennessee-nil-case-suspends-ncaa-rules/
[10] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-judge-grants-injunction-tennessee-nil-case-suspends-ncaa-rules/
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