NCAA Banned From Enforcing Name, Image, Likeness Recruiting Rule

The National Collegiate Athletics Association can’t prohibit student-athletes from negotiating compensation for their name, image, and likeness with third-party entities, after a judge ruled against the sports organization.

Judge Clifton Corker of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee on Friday granted Virginia and Tennessee their motion for a preliminary injunction that stops the NCAA from enforcing its NIL recruiting ban or taking any other action to prevent prospective college athletes from engaging in NIL discussions prior to enrollment.

The ruling means college recruits can now negotiate NIL deals before enrolling in a school.

Under NCAA’s NIL recruiting ban, student-athletes are prohibited from discussing potential NIL deals until they commit to a specific school.

The ruling deals a blow to NCAA, which has faced numerous private antitrust actions over the last year along with scrutiny from state and federal enforcers.

“The situation requires no more and no less than permitting student-athletes to negotiate NIL deals with third parties prior to committing to a particular school,” Corker said in his ruling. “The NCAA fails to show how such relief will cause any harm that outweighs the irreparable harm that student-athletes will face in the absence of an injunction.”

He added that “encouraging free and fair price competition in the NIL market by enjoining the NCAA’s NIL-recruiting ban will serve the public interest.”

The injunction hands a win to the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia, who filed a lawsuit against NCAA in January with allegations that NCAA violated federal antitrust laws by banning the use of NIL in recruiting.

The NCAA argued that the rules have been in effect for years and that the plaintiffs didn’t offer an explanation as to why they waited years to challenge them.

The states are represented by their attorneys general. NCAA is represented by Holland & Knight LLP and Wilkinson Stekloff LLP.

The case is Tennessee v. NCAA, E.D. Tenn., No. 3:24-cv-00033, opinion 2/23/24.