NCAA WARNS OF $4B ‘DEATH KNELL’ IN NIL CLASS ACTION APPEAL

If there’s one case that could deliver a knockout blow to the NCAA, it’s In Re College Athlete NIL Litigation.

In a new petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the defendants—the NCAA and Power Five conferences—bluntly warn that losing could force them to pay over $4 billion in damages.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken recently certified the case, which was brought by Arizona State swimmer Grant House, former Oregon and current TCU basketball player Sedona Prince, and former Illinois football player Tymir Oliver, as a class action on behalf of more 14,500 college athletes.

By preventing conferences from sharing broadcasting revenue with the players, depriving players of video game revenue they might have earned if the NCAA had allowed players to appear in video games and, until 2021, denying players NIL opportunities, the NCAA and Power Five conferences allegedly violated antitrust law.