The NCAA has settled a lawsuit with several states that began in January 2024. As a part of the settlement, the NCAA agreed to step back from enacting an NIL recruitment ban.
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The NCAA has settled a lawsuit with several states that began in January 2024. As a part of the settlement, the NCAA agreed to step back from enacting an NIL recruitment ban.
The case was originally filed by Tennessee and Virginia after the NCAA investigated a recruiting incident at the University of Tennessee. New York and Florida later joined the lawsuit. The states and universities argued that student-athletes should be allowed to consider and negotiate NIL deals as a part of the college recruitment process, and now they can.
According to Sports Illustrated, the settlement “cements a permanent injunction against the NCAA’s ability to enforce NIL restrictions on recruiting—marking another major blow to the organization’s already diminished control over college athletics.”
“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,” said Jonathan Skrmettig, Tennessee attorney general.
This settlement is just the latest in a snowball of legal action against the NCAA in recent years. In February 2024, just after the case filed by Tennessee and Virginia, the NCAA was first prevented from enforcing NIL restrictions on recruitment. This week’s settlement makes the preliminary order permanent.
Now, student-athletes' negotiation of NIL deals as a part of the college recruitment process is protected and strengthened in the face of the weakening power of the NCAA to regulate the newfound NIL landscape. And, with this latest settlement, universities and athletic departments can be assured of a shift in the power dynamic between the NCAA and it’s member organizations.
Following the settlement, the NCAA released a statement that read, “The NCAA has reached a settlement that resolves the issues Tennessee and the other involved states raised without posing an obstacle to completing the House, Carter and Hubbard settlements. We anticipate full terms will be released later in the spring.”
