NCAA’s NIL Rules Suspended After Federal Judge Issues Injunction in Lawsuit

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIFebruary 23, 2024

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The NCAA cannot enforce any NIL rules for the time being after a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in the case of the state of Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Virginia vs. the NCAA.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the news.

Pete Thamel @PeteThamelThe preliminary injunction has been granted in the case of the state of Tennessee and Virginia vs. the NCAA. Details here: pic.twitter.com/6vUFn1QiEm

Ralph D. Russo and Teresa M. Walker of the Associated Press provided details on Tennessee and Virginia’s antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, which was filed in late January.

“The attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday that challenged its ban on the use of name, image and likeness compensation in the recruitment of college athletes, and in response to the association’s investigation of University of Tennessee.

“The lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Tennessee seeks to undercut NCAA rules against recruiting inducements and claims the association is ‘enforcing rules that unfairly restrict how athletes can commercially use their name, image and likeness at a critical juncture in the recruiting calendar.”

In addition, the lawsuit states that “these anticompetitive restrictions violate the Sherman Act, harm the States and the welfare of their athletes, and should be declared unlawful and enjoined.”

With the ruling Friday, the NCAA cannot enforce NIL rules until the lawsuit is either settled or goes to trial, per Front Office Sports.

The NCAA released a statement following the decision (h/t Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic and NBC Sports):

Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbachNCAA statement on the preliminary injunction being granted, which means that the NCAA temporarily cannot enforce its rules around NIL in recruiting: pic.twitter.com/DuixXiqUd8

Per Pete Nakos of On3, the ruling from Judge Clifton L. Corker of the Eastern District Court of Tennessee “now allows booster-funded NIL collectives to communicate with high school recruits and transfer portal players.”

Via The Athletic, Corker’s court order stated that “while the NCAA permits student-athletes to profit from their NIL, it fails to show how the timing of when a student-athlete enters such an agreement would destroy the goal of preserving amateurism.”

Auerbach added that the decision will be more widespread than Tennessee and Virginia:

Nicole Auerbach @NicoleAuerbachThis court order that grants the preliminary injunction to stop the NCAA from enforcing NIL rules in recruiting is applicable to ALL recruits and ALL schools in ALL states.

Not just Tennessee and Virginia.

Numerous analysts called the decision disastrous for the NCAA:

Dan Wetzel @DanWetzelFederal injunction against NCAA enforcing NIL rules is a death blow to NCAA enforcement.

Even in non-NIL cases there are now almost no NCAA penalties that will have any impact on a program. NIL can be used to circumvent any recruiting sanctions, even scholarship reductions.

Amanda Christovich @achristovichhBREAKING: It’s the NCAA’s worst nightmare. A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction in the Tennessee NIL case–meaning the NCAA cannot enforce any NIL restrictions or rules until the lawsuit is settled or goes to trial. Story to come

Michael McCann @McCannSportsLawFederal judge rules against NCAA, issues preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the NIL-recruiting ban. This is a big deal and another sign longstanding legal defenses for amateurism in college sports are collapsing on the NCAA. A new world awaits. https://t.co/dwsYFnUHgV.

The NCAA previously adopted a temporary name, image and likeness policy beginning July 1, 2021.