House v. NCAA attorneys amend ‘booster’ language in settlement as two sides look for federal judge approval

The NCAA and plaintiff attorneys in the most significant antitrust case in college sports history have agreed to amended language in a settlement that the two parties hope will be approved by a federal judge as early as this week. If it is, the long-gestating settlement in the House v. NCAA case will set in motion $2.8 billion in back payments to players and the implementation of a revenue-sharing model in college athletics by Fall 2025. It will also provide some — but not overarching — clarity on NIL collectives.

The crux of the amendment concerns language surrounding booster involvement in name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with players. The amendment deletes the term “boosters” to focus on “narrower and more objective terminology that will limit future enforcement authority over third-party NIL deals,” according to the NCAA. The amendment was drafted by plaintiff attorneys and filed late Thursday in the Northern District of California.

“We think we’ve satisfied the concerns [the judge] raised, and more importantly, we think she will agree after looking at the settlement as a whole that this is clearly of interest to the class,” House co-lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler told CBS Sports.

The federal judge overseeing the case voiced concerns over portions of the settlement during a preliminary hearing on Sept. 6, particularly the piece allowing the NCAA to police NIL collectives and limit boosters from paying athletes through endorsement deals. In what Judge Claudia Wilken argued would amount to a salary cap, the enforcement model would have forced boosters to prove payments to athletes are for a “valid business purpose” rather than “pay-for-play.”

Big-time boosters, however, are still targeted in the amended settlement, even if they…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/house-v-ncaa-attorneys-amend-booster-language-in-settlement-as-two-sides-look-for-federal-judge-approval/

Author : Brandon Marcello

Publish date : 2024-09-26 22:45:19

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