Virginia’s top lawyer, Attorney General Jason Miyares, is taking the NCAA (the organization overseeing college sports) to court.
He’s joined by Tennessee’s Attorney General, and they’re arguing that the rules the NCAA has about how college athletes can make money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) go against the law that’s meant to keep competition fair (antitrust law).
The states say these rules hurt both current and future student-athletes.
Miyares points out that college athletes, especially in popular sports like football and basketball, make a lot of money for the NCAA, colleges, and big companies.
He thinks athletes should have more freedom to negotiate and earn money based on their skills. He also believes that since colleges benefit so much from successful athletes, it’s fair for the athletes to know how they can benefit from choosing a particular school.
This legal action comes after the Supreme Court said the NCAA broke the law by limiting how much money college athletes can get.
In response, Virginia and other states made laws to let athletes earn more money through their name, image, and likeness. But, according to Miyares, the NCAA has made its own set of confusing rules that stop athletes from getting fair pay for their NIL.
One significant problem highlighted in the lawsuit is that the NCAA doesn’t allow athletes to talk about potential money-making opportunities with schools or groups before officially joining a college team.
This means they can’t negotiate with groups, see what offers they might get, or fully understand all the money-related services a school could offer them when they join.
NCAA: Overview
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that oversees and regulates student athletics across approximately 1,100 schools in the United States and one in Canada. Its primary role includes organizing athletic programs for colleges and providing support to more than 500,000 college student-athletes participating in various sports annually. The NCAA is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Historically, the NCAA functioned as a single division until 1957 when it split into the University Division and the College Division.
In August 1973, the current three-division system—Division I, Division II, and Division III—was established through a special convention. Division I and Division II schools are allowed to offer scholarships to athletes, whereas Division III schools are prohibited from providing any athletic scholarships.
Typically, larger schools compete in Division I, while smaller ones participate in Divisions II and III.
Notably, Division I football underwent further subdivision into I-A and I-AA in 1978, and those without football teams in Division I were termed I-AAA. In 2006, these designations were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
NCAA-sanctioned sports encompass:
- Basketball
- Men’s Baseball
- Women’s Beach Volleyball
- Women’s Softball
- Men’s Football
- Cross Country
- Women’s Field Hockey
- Women’s Bowling
- Golf
- Coeducational Fencing
- Lacrosse
- Soccer
- Gymnastics
- Women’s Rowing
- Volleyball
- Ice Hockey
- Water Polo
- Coeducational Rifle
- Tennis
- Coeducational Skiing
- Track and Field
- Swimming and Diving
- Men’s Wrestling
Beach volleyball, the latest addition to the officially sanctioned sports lineup, conducted its inaugural championship in spring 2016. Previously referred to as “sand volleyball,” the NCAA adopted the internationally recognized term “beach volleyball” on June 23, 2015.
