Full-court press: the NCAA's ongoing battles over NIL rights and transfer rules

The extensive antitrust challenges facing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA or the Association) continue to mount, challenging the Association’s positions on everything from student-athlete Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) to its transfer policies. 

Reports indicate that a newly proposed non-conference basketball tournament[1] is slated to be held in Las Vegas this coming November, offering up to $2 million in NIL deals.  If true, it may eventually challenge the dominance (or monetary terms) of the NCAA’s marquee, March Madness tournament, which is financially critical to the NCAA’s operations.  And the Dartmouth men’s basketball team’s recent vote to become the first unionized college sports team in the United States, if nothing else, promises that more challenges to the NCAA’s aging amateur model are coming. 

Against this backdrop, we take stock of three important antitrust cases – two NIL related, and one transfer rules focused – that will shape where the NCAA goes next. 

• NIL antitrust litigation
  • Tennessee v. NCAA: States against the Association
  • House v. NCAA: Athletes against the Association
• Transfer eligibility rule litigation
  • Ohio v. NCAA: States and the Department of Justice against the Association
• A rising wave of litigation