Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced today that a bipartisan coalition of states has reached a settlement in principle with the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in a major lawsuit challenging the organization’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Recruiting Ban.
The settlement comes after Tennessee, along with Virginia, Florida, the District of Columbia, and New York, sued the NCAA in federal court, alleging that its restrictions on NIL compensation violated federal antitrust law and unfairly harmed student-athletes.
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“We’ve been fighting hard to protect Tennessee student-athletes,” said Attorney General Skrmetti. “Last year, we blocked the NCAA’s unlawful enforcement against Tennessee students and schools, and now this settlement in principle lays the groundwork for a permanent solution.”
The lawsuit argued that the NCAA’s ban on NIL compensation during recruiting created anticompetitive restrictions that limited opportunities for student-athletes. The federal court sided with the Attorneys General, blocking the NCAA from enforcing its NIL Recruiting Ban while the case was ongoing.
With this settlement, the NCAA has agreed to protect student-athletes’ NIL rights and is prohibited from reinstating the NIL Recruiting Ban in the future.
What This Settlement Means
- Student-athletes will have greater freedom to benefit from NIL deals during the recruiting process.
- The NCAA will be permanently barred from reintroducing restrictions that prevent student-athletes from earning NIL compensation.
- The decision marks a significant shift in the landscape of college athletics, ensuring that players can capitalize on their brand and marketability without fear of NCAA punishment.
This settlement represents a major victory in the fight for athletes’ rights, further eroding the NCAA’s historical control over student-athlete compensation. The ruling follows years of legal battles over pay-for-play policies and NIL rights, putting more power in the hands of student-athletes.
With NIL opportunities expanding, this agreement sets a precedent for future challenges to NCAA regulations and could lead to additional reforms in college sports governance.
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