NCAA Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Anticompetitive Pay for Play Laws

Summary:

• NCAA hit with another class action lawsuit by a trio of college players
• The class action lawsuit is over the NCAA’s policy regarding Anticompetitive pay for play laws
• NCAA President is pushing Congress to pass a Federal law that will prevent college athletes from filing antitrust lawsuits

Winston & Strawn LLP and Hagens Berman were hired by three college athletes in the US to file a class action lawsuit against the NCAA and 5 of its top conferences.

Jeffrey Kessler and Steve Berman have sued the NCAA in the past and have had success with their latest win coming in the House v. NCAA lawsuit which was upgraded to a class action status against the NCAA for billions of dollars.

Anticompetitive Pay for Play Laws

Sedona Prince, a basketball player from TCU, Nya Harrison, a soccer player from Stanford and Dewayne Carter, a football player from Duke are suing the NCAA for pay for play rules that prevent athletes for getting paid.

NCAA President Charlie Baker announced earlier this week that the NCAA wants to change its policy that will allow college athletes to sign NIL deals directly. The new lawsuit wants the court to grant a permanent injunction that will stop the NCAA from enforcing its current laws which are anticompetitive.

The antitrust lawsuit makes reference to this proposed policy change pointing out that the top colleges had the funds to pay their players.

Carter released a statement via his lawyers which said

It’s time for the NCAA to recognize that the rules prohibiting athletes from sharing in the massive revenues we help to generate are harming all college athletes. There are hundreds of people involved in NCAA sports but the only ones who cannot be paid are the athletes; I’m proud to stand up for all college athletes to correct that injustice.

NCAA Pushing For New Federal Law

President Baker along with other college sport leaders have been putting pressure on Congress to create a new Federal Law that will prevent college athletes in sports such as football and basketball from filing antitrust lawsuits like the one the NCAA has been slapped with recently.

In a statement, Bakder said

I want a little antitrust exemption. I just want something where if the NCAA and the federal government agree that something should be and can be a national standard that we are allowed to actually have a national standard.