Florida on Wednesday joined an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA related to paying athletes for use of their names, images and likenesses.
Tennessee and Virginia filed the lawsuit in January in federal court in Tennessee, and an amended complaint was filed Wednesday that included Florida, New York and Washington, D.C.
The complaint alleges that the NCAA has violated an antitrust law by preventing athletes from discussing potential name, image and likeness deals — known as NIL — before they enroll in schools.
Related: Florida Joins Tennessee And Virginia’s Multi-State Lawsuit Against NCAA
“By prohibiting such interactions, the NCAA’s approach restricts competition among schools and third parties (often NIL ‘collectives’) to arrange the best NIL opportunities for prospective athletes,” the complaint said. “The NCAA bans the use of NIL contracts as a ‘recruiting inducement,’ meaning prospective athletes cannot negotiate NIL agreements before they commit to a member institution. A prospective athlete must commit, enroll, or transfer without understanding the NIL opportunities available at the destination or comparing those opportunities to the ones at competing schools. This NIL-recruiting ban limits competition and artificially decreases NIL compensation that college athletes could otherwise obtain in a free market.”
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office said in a news release that the NCAA has pursued Florida State University and the University of Florida for purported NIL violations.
Read: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Urges NCAA To Promote Women’s Flag Football
“It appears no one could ever comply with these ever-changing and unfair regulations that limit the ability of student-athletes to negotiate in good faith,” Moody said in a prepared statement. U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker in February issued a preliminary injunction against the NCAA.
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