NATIONWIDE — A SETTLEMENT WITH THE NCAA that New York Attorney General Letitia James and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general secured will protect student athletes’ rights to benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) – deals that can yield huge profits for star players.
Last year, James and the coalition sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association for restricting student athletes’ abilities to earn money from NIL opportunities. Their lawsuit alleged that the NCAA’s rules prevented student athletes from learning about potential compensation from NIL opportunities before deciding to commit, enroll or transfer to a university.
The coalition argued that these restrictions violated federal antitrust law and limited student athletes’ chances to earn NIL compensation. A federal judge who agreed with the states’ allegations blocked the NCAA’s enforcement of its unlawful rules.
The settlement will end the NCAA’s restrictive NIL rules and enable student athletes to learn about those opportunities before committing to a school. The parties negotiated to protect student athletes’ NIL rights during the recruiting process; the settlement also prohibits the NCAA from reviving its NIL recruiting rules, or enacting similar policies.
The NCAA must additionally publicize any new proposed rules concerning NIL opportunities on a dedicated public webpage for five years.
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