NCAA Agrees to Allow Pre-College Players to Accept Prize Money (1)

The NCAA will pay more than $2 million in damages to settle antitrust claims brought by a UNC tennis player and a certified class of student-athletes, while also revising its restrictions on athletes’ acceptance of prize money.

Under the proposed settlement, the NCAA will eliminate its rule preventing student-athletes in all sports from keeping prize money from events before their college enrollment.

The deal is the latest example of the NCAA’s willingness to upend longstanding rules after antitrust lawsuits, efforts that include a proposal to change its bylaws on athlete eligibility.

The proposed settlement and the plaintiffs’ request for preliminary approval was filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina after roughly five months of negotiations.

The NCAA has long restricted student-athletes’ ability to accept cash awards, bonuses, and other monetary prizes awarded by third parties for performance in non-NCAA competitions, including the tennis US Open, which prompted the lawsuit.

Tennis player Reese Brantmeier sued the NCAA in 2024, saying the rules that prevented her and other athletes from retaining full compensation for monetary prizes earned through their athletic performance outside of NCAA competitions without jeopardizing their college eligibility. Brantmeier, now a senior who plays tennis for UNC-Chapel Hill, alleges she was forced to forfeit much of the prize money she earned at the 2021 US Open as well as other tournaments that year.

The rule change is expected to be effect for pre-enrollment student-athletes competing in the upcoming Roland Garros, Wimbledon Championships, and US Open Tennis Championships, among other non-NCAA competitions, the filing says.

“The proposed settlement is an extraordinary outcome for the Classes, and the injunctive relief obtained will positively impact future generations of student-athletes, including many individuals who are not members of the Classes,” the plaintiffs said in their motion for preliminary approval.

The NCAA said in a statement that while the adjustment to pre-enrollment prize money rules is part of the settlement, it is “also consistent with Division I’s ongoing work to modernize rules to benefit student-athletes.”

There are no changes to the rules regarding receipt of prize money after enrollment, the NCAA added.

Attorneys’ Fees

Last year, Chief District Judge Catherine C. Eagles granted class certification for both injunctive relief and damages classes, ruling Brantmeier met the threshold requirements for class status.

Under the deal, NCAA will pay $2.02 million as part of the damages settlement, including a $10,000 service award for each of the named plaintiffs, Brantmeier and tennis player Maya Joint, now a professional who previously played at Texas.

Joint had to forfeit $140,000 in US Open prize money to keep her college eligibility, the NCAA ruled.

The NCAA has further agreed to pay about $1.9 million in attorneys’ fees as well as up to $250,000 towards administrative costs.

Upon the court’s final approval of the settlement, the NCAA will be forbidden from reinstating the prize money rules that existed before the settlement.

Separately, the NCAA is considering new rules that would permit student-athletes up to five years of eligibility beginning the regular academic year after they turn 19 or graduate from high school. The current framework allows four seasons of competition within a five-year window.

Brantmeier is represented by Milberg LLC and Miller Monroe Holton & Plyler. The NCAA is represented by Wilkinson Stekloff LLP and ArentFox Schiff LLP.

The case is Brantmeier v. NCAA, M.D.N.C., No. 1:24-cv-00238, 4/28/26.