NCAA Loses Bid to Downsize $4 Billion Athlete Pay Antitrust Case

The National Collegiate Athletic Association failed to win a reprieve from an appeals court after complaining that it could be ruinous for the organization to face off at a trial against thousands of former student athletes who claim they were cheated out of billions of dollars in revenue from TV broadcasts and video games.

In a brief order Thursday, the court denied the NCAA’s long-shot request for permission to challenge a November ruling that allowed the athletes to pursue their claims as a group. That keeps the trial on schedule for 2025 and it likely means the NCAA will have to wait until after a verdict to raise arguments that the athletes were wrongly granted class-action status.

The case centers on claims by current and former Division I student athletes, mostly football and basketball players, that the NCAA violated federal antitrust law by not allowing them compensation for commercial use of their names, images and likenesses — specifically by appearing in TV broadcasts of college tournaments and in video games.

Read More: College Athletes Secure Class Status in NCAA Antitrust Suit

The trial is set for January 2025 in Oakland, California, and attorneys for the athletes have said they’re seeking $1.5 billion in damages.

The NCAA had argued to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that because the damages could be tripled to more than $4 billion under antitrust law, the organization faces a “death knell” risk if it goes to trial.

“Any attempt to satisfy even a partial judgment would necessitate curtailing college sports programs across the country, and the size of the claimed damages will put intense pressure on defendants to settle,” attorneys for the NCAA said in a filing.

The NCAA said in November that it disagreed with the ruling allowing class-action status because the circumstances around any individual athlete’s likeness rights are “highly specific.” The association also objected to the plaintiffs’ “inequitable approach to award 96% of damages to men and only 4% to women.”

Representatives of the NCAA didn’t immediately respond after regular business hours to a request for comment.

--With assistance from Katie Arcieri.

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Peter Blumberg in San Francisco at pblumberg1@bloomberg.net

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Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Peter Blumberg

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