In a new damages ruling, if it stands, lawyers for over 10,000 NCAA athletes are seeking more than $1.4 billion, which may then be trebled, which often happen in successful antirust cases. If this occurs, more than $4.2 billion would be at stake.
The novel lawsuit claims that Power 5 conference football and men's and women's basketball athletes should receive damages for use of their NIL during telecasts of their games, among other social media earnings. If they win, any award would be shared with these approximately 6,300 athletes plus another 7,400 athletes in other sports, although not for TV broadcast-rights money -- those who played or play since June 15, 2016, the date the original lawsuit was filed.
Trial is set for January 2025. Clearly the NCCA disagrees with this decision and notes that it is examining the decision and its implications carefully. This decision is just another front in the legal war on "pay to play" in Power 5 college athletics, NIL and the intersection of NCAA and antitrust laws.
A federal judge on Friday night granted class-action status in the damages portion of a lawsuit against the NCAA and major-college athletics conferences that could result in a multi-billion-dollar award to former and current college athletes.
The suit challenges the association's remaining rules regarding athletes' ability to make money from their names, images and likenesses and seeks damages based on the share of television-rights money and the social media earnings it claims athletes would have received if the NCAA's previous limits on name-image-and-likeness (NIL) compensation had not existed.
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