The NCAA has a problem. And it’s trying to solve it.
Via ESPN.com, the leaders of college sports are in “deep discussions” to resolve a massive NIL antritrust lawsuit. The case, which attacks any and all restrictions on the ability of athletes to earn money for their name, image, and likeness, is set to go to trial in January 2025.
A recent gathering of key figures for college football playoff meetings reportedly sparked an effort to discuss a way out of the multi-billion-dollar maze in which college sports find themselves.
The class action has two key pieces. There’s an effort to recover financial compensation for past violations, and there’s a request for a court order preventing the NCAA and the member schools from applying restrictions in the future. The going-forward aspect of the case could leverage some sort of revenue sharing for players.
Something needs to happen. The NCAA is and has been in checkmate. The only thing left to determine is when and how the NCAA will make things right for what has happened in the past, and for what needs to happen in the future.
It won’t be easy. Ultimately, a Super League might be the only way to address all issues in a satisfactory way.
Regardless, this is the reckoning the NCAA has deserved for decades. The schools, hiding under their convenient, four-letter umbrella, have exploited athletes, getting more from them than the players ever get. If the solution messy or ugly or clunky or expensive (it will be that), it’s not the fault of those who were victimized by a system that has made billions in exchange for the actual, not-marked-up-like-jewelry cost of giving players a college education, regardless of whether they want one.