NCAA Ducks Temporary Halt to ‘Amateurism’ Rule in Antitrust Suit

The National Collegiate Athletic Association avoided a second bid by twin brothers who sought to block the sports organization from enforcing rules on their ineligibility to compete in college sports.

Judge Robert Gettleman of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in a Wednesday order denied Matthew and Ryan Bewley’s motion for a preliminary injunction, as well as a motion to reconsider their previous failed bid for a temporary restraining order, which the court had denied in November.

At issue are NCAA amateurism rules that deem individuals ineligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if they are paid in any form for that sport, or sign a contract or commitment of any kind to play professional athletics. The suit is part of an onslaught of legal challenges to the NCAA in recent years over antitrust violations that include failing to pay student-athletes for their likeness.

Gettleman said the court “finds that plaintiffs have failed to establish that that they are likely to succeed in showing that they were denied eligibility” because of compensation they received for use of their name, image, and likeness while playing basketball on what is considered a professional league at the Overtime Elite Academy. Overtime Elite Academy is a high school and elite basketball academy in Atlanta, Ga.

“The plaintiffs’ contracts with OTE were ‘so clearly an employment contract with a professional league,’ and although plaintiffs’ contracts included compensation for NIL, the contracts were “much more than just an NIL contract,” Gettleman wrote.

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Annual Salaries

The Bewley brothers sued NCAA in November over claims the organization violated state law by declaring them ineligible for college play based on the terms of compensation they received from the basketball academy for their likenesses.

The brothers each received salaries of $350,000 annually, as well as performance bonuses of $50,000 per year, and other financial benefits, including shares of equity in Overtime Elite, apparel royalties, group licensing payments, housing, and meals, according to the NCAA’s opposition to the injunction.

They accepted athletic scholarship offers from Chicago State University, a member of the NCAA, to play in its men’s basketball program.

The NCAA found the brothers ineligible for college play because they entered into an agreement with a professional team that provided payment “above actual and necessary expenses,” as well as their overall participation with a professional team. NCAA argued that the Supreme Court determined that amateurism is a “procompetitive justification” that protects the distinction between college and professional sports.

The brothers argue they will suffer irreparable harm by missing out on the opportunity to participate in Division I college basketball and depriving NBA scouts of the opportunity to evaluate them.

The plaintiffs are represented by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. The NCAA is represented by Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP.

The case is Bewley v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, N.D. Ill., No. 1:23-cv-15570, 1/10/24.