Judge questions restrictions on booster payments to athletes in $2.78B NCAA settlement

A federal judge on Thursday probed the terms of a proposed $2.78 billion settlement of antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and major conferences and revealed a potential snag in the deal, questioning whether payments to college athletes from booster-funded organizations should be restricted.

“I’m quite concerned about those,” U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said during a preliminary approval hearing. The hearing was the first step of a lengthy court process that could lead to college athletes getting a cut of the billions in television revenue that flows to their schools.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs, the NCAA and parties challenging the settlement appeared via video conference in front of Wilken, who was presiding from the court in Oakland, California.

The NCAA and the power conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference, Southeastern Conference and Pac-12) agreed in May to settle House v. NCAA and two similar case cases that challenged compensation rules for college athletes.

The deal calls for the NCAA to foot the bill for nearly $3 billion in damages paid to former and current college athletes who were denied the right to earn money off their name, image and likeness, dating to 2016.

As part of the settlement, the conferences agreed to a revenue-sharing plan that would allow each school to direct about $21 million annually to athletes for use of their names, images and likenesses, starting as soon as next season — if the settlement receives final approval.

No ruling

Wilken did not rule on the request to grant preliminary approval of the deal. She told the NCAA and plaintiffs to “go back to the drawing board” to address issues she raised and report back to her in three weeks with solutions. An exact date for another hearing and for her to make a ruling was not set.

The settlement also takes aim at reining in so-called NIL collectives that have sprung up around major college sports, paying millions to athletes, since the NCAA lifted its ban on…

Source link : https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-judge-asked-preliminary-ok-162341805.html

Author : Associated Press

Publish date : 2024-09-05 16:23:41

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.