House vs. NCAA

Earlier this week Judge Claudia Wilken issued a preliminary approval of the amended agreement. She offered little detail, so we will have to wait until the final approval hearing on April 7th to hear the details on implementation. This opens the door to revenue-sharing for NCAA programs that opt-in, while schools that opt-out will be governed separately, with stricter rules limiting NIL pay-for-play deals. The agreement also increases the number of scholarships available for football (105) basketball (15) baseball (34) soccer (28) and volleyball (18).

Terrelle Pryor sues NCAA, The Big Ten, OSU

Pryor is seeking compensation because he played before the earliest date of the class actions and would not receive any part of a settlement.

Brandon vs. NC - Update!

On October 1st Wake County Judge Graham Shirley in favor of the Brandon family, which will allow high school student-athletes to leverage their NIL rights to generate income. It will take some time for the ruling to go into effect, but most likely will be in place before the beginning of the 2025 academic school year.

D1 Council Shortens Notice-of-transfer Window

On Tuesday the Council approved changing the window for football and men’s and women’s basketball from a total of 45 days to 30 days, effective immediately. The window will be open for 30 days beginning the day after the conclusion of the second round of each NCAA D1 championship. For both FCS and FBS football programs, the window will be a total of 30 days spread over two windows. The first window will open the Monday after the FBS conference championship weekend for 20 days, followed by a second window of 10 days in the spring. For the 2024-25 academic year, the windows will be open from December 9th - 25th and April 16th - 25th.

NCAA Eliminates NLI

The D1 Council on Tuesday approved the elimination of National Letter of Intent program and replaced it with a written offer of athletics aid. The previous formula used to determine signing dates will be applied to this new process. Transfer students will be able to sign offers of athletic aid after they enter the transfer portal. Once signed, other schools will be prohibited from offering athletically related financial aid and prohibited from recruiting communications with the prospect.

Federal Legislation Update

Congress is in recess until after the election, and since they only passed a short-term funding bill there will still be much higher priorities to get done before either chamber takes a look at NIL. On3 is reporting that Senator Ted Cruz (R) from Texas is working on a new NIL bill, but he has a strong challenge on his hands in November, so there’s a chance he may not be back in January.

If you’re interested in staying up to date on federal legislation on NIL rights, here are some links to great resources:

• NIL and Data Transparency: Implications for Student-Athletes - Georgetown Law Technology Review

• NIL Roundup: New Permissible Uses of NIL and Other Forms of Student-Athlete Compensation - Ropes & Gray

• Highlights of the Federal Proposals to Regulate NIL Deals - Littler Mendelson, P.C.