NCAA Settlement Bolsters Bids to Treat Athletes as Employees

The NCAA’s sign off on a nearly $2.8 billion antitrust settlement with college athletes opens the door to more legal challenges over players’ employment status and the association’s amateur model, legal observers say.

The NCAA and its Power Five conferences agreed to pay $2.75 billion in damages to college athletes over a 10-year period in a deal that seeks to resolve three pending antitrust lawsuits. The agreement also eliminates NCAA and conference rules that prohibit direct payments from schools to athletes, and allows direct revenue sharing through new payments and benefits, according to a statement from Hagens Berman and Winston ...