NCAA Athletics: NCAA facing huge lawsuit over NIL
By Kevin Miller
NIL has changed NCAA athletics forever. Players are now able to be compensated and earn money without having to be paid through under-the-table means, McDonald’s bag deliveries, or $100 handshakes. College sports will never be the same as they were before, in some good ways and in some bad ways, but without question, collegiate athletes have it better off now than ever before. Former athletes, though, have been asking the question, “Where was this while I was playing?”
That question has led to a lawsuit against the NCAA. In a report from Sports Illustrated’s Ross Delanger, details have emerged in a multi-million dollar anti-trust suit against the college sports entity. The lawsuit also mentions the “Power Five” conferences (SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, and Pac 12) as co-defendants of the NCAA.
The lawsuit stems from the belief that players should have been paid (in NIL money) starting after the verdict in O’Bannon vs. the NCAA case that deemed players had the right to not be restricted from pay just because they are on scholarship. Instead, the NCAA did not pass NIL legislation until 2020. The plaintiffs (led by former Oklahoma State and current Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Howard) argue that players are owed damages from 2016 through 2020 for the potential earnings they missed out on due to the NCAA’s delay in passing NIL legislation.
In a similar case in 2021, the NCAA lost 9-0, so it is likely the courts will rule in favor of the plaintiffs in some manner this time, as well. The lawsuit is a class-action lawsuit, so there will be many former collegiate athletes involved in the suit in addition to Hubbard and fellow plaintiff Keira McCarrell who ran track at Auburn.