{"id":212,"date":"2024-02-02T22:51:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T02:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/?p=212"},"modified":"2025-07-25T12:55:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T16:55:27","slug":"state-ags-division-i-university-and-ncaa-trade-punches-over-nil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/2024\/02\/02\/state-ags-division-i-university-and-ncaa-trade-punches-over-nil\/","title":{"rendered":"State AGs, Division I University, and NCAA Trade Punches Over NIL"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Drew T. Dorner and Zach McCormack<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"This week, media outlets reported<\/a> that the NCAA is investigating alleged name, image, and likeness (NIL) violations by the University of Tennessee and its NIL collective.\u00a0 Just one day later, Tennessee\u2019s attorney general, joined by the attorney general of Virginia, filed an antitrust lawsuit<\/a> against the NCAA.\u00a0 The lawsuit is a counter-punch that could have significant implications for college sports and the NIL phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Although the concrete details surrounding the NCAA\u2019s investigation into Tennessee\u2019s NIL activities are scant, it is widely believed that the investigation involves the university\u2019s main NIL collective run by Knoxville-based sports marketing group Spyre Sports Group, and that it covers the football program as well as athletes in other sports. \u00a0Among the matters under investigation are reports<\/a> that Tennessee\u2019s NIL collective flew Volunteer quarterback Nico Iamaleava on a private jet during his University of Tennessee recruiting visit. \u00a0It appears likely that the investigation focuses, at least in part, on the NCAA\u2019s policy<\/a> that NIL dollars cannot be used to induce or mandate an athlete\u2019s enrollment or attendance at a particular school.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, in the wake of the announcement of this investigation, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, joined by the Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, filed suit against the NCAA for violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act.\u00a0 The attorneys general filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would bar the NCAA from enforcing its NIL policies while the lawsuit is pending.\u00a0 If that motion is granted in full, (1) the NCAA would instantly lose its ability to police schools for alleged violations of its NIL policies; and (2) the court would send a signal that Tennessee and Virginia are likely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit, potentially ending all current NCAA-driven NIL regulation as we know it.\u00a0 United States District Court Judge Clifton L. Corker will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on February 13, 2024, and he could decide the motion shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n

The NCAA\u2019s ban on NIL-based inducements is at odds with laws in some states.\u00a0 For example, in 2022, Tennessee deleted a provision from its NIL law that prohibited collectives from conditioning NIL payments on the student-athlete\u2019s enrollment at a school.\u00a0 Other states, like Missouri, have laws that expressly permit inducement, while others simply have no law that bans inducement (or no NIL law at all).\u00a0 Recognizing this tension, the NCAA purports to require<\/a> member schools to \u201cadhere to NCAA legislation (or policy) when it conflicts with permissive state laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Complaint, among other things, claims that the NCAA unfairly places \u201cprotections\u201d on college athletes to pursue NIL compensation by banning prospective college athletes (including current college athletes in the \u201ctransfer portal\u201d) from discussing potential NIL opportunities before they actually enroll. \u00a0These restrictions, Virginia and Tennessee contend, restrict competition among schools and NIL collectives to arrange the best NIL opportunities for the athletes. \u00a0The complaint alleges that \u201c[a] prospective athlete must commit, enroll, or transfer without understanding the NIL opportunities available at the destination or comparing those opportunities to the ones at competing schools.\u201d\u00a0 According to the states, this NIL-recruiting ban limits competition and artificially decreases NIL compensation that college athletes could otherwise obtain in a free market.<\/p>\n

Although the investigation against the University of Tennessee and the lawsuit against the NCAA are new and developing matters, the potential for either (or both) to affect athletes, schools, collectives, and other parties involved in NIL is clear.\u00a0 If the investigation results in findings against UT, it may signal that the NCAA has drawn a line in the sand that it intends to defend in spite of what state law might say.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Tennessee and Virginia\u2019s antitrust claim has the potential to become another milestone NIL decision, the likes of which we have not seen since NCAA v. Alston<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Drew T. Dorner and Zach McCormack This week, media outlets reported that the NCAA is investigating alleged name, image, and likeness (NIL) violations by the University of Tennessee and its NIL collective.\u00a0 Just one day later, Tennessee\u2019s attorney general, joined by the attorney general of Virginia, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA.\u00a0 The … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “State AGs, Division I University, and NCAA Trade Punches Over NIL”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":572,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[339],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"authors":[{"term_id":339,"user_id":572,"is_guest":0,"slug":"dtdorner","display_name":"Drew T. Dorner","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2022\/07\/dornerdrew-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/572"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/sportslaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}