NCAA-House Settlement Delayed, ACC Hands Over ESPN Documents to Florida AG, + ICYMI | Newsletter #254

Jul 18, 2024

Today’s Thursday newsletter includes highlights from this week, important news from last week, and what to watch for.

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Recapping Major News This Week:

The proposed $2.8 billion settlement in the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit, which the NCAA hoped to submit to a U.S. District Court on Monday, was delayed.
According to the plaintiffs’ lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, the hold-up is due to the NCAA and its power league co-defendants. As reported by Sportico, Kessler said that “The NCAA and the conferences have been extraordinarily slow” and if they do not speed it up then they are “going to go to the court.”
Both sides filed a joint stipulation asking for the court to pause deadlines in the action on May 30th, with the anticipation that it would been presented to the court by Sunday, as they worked to iron out a long-form settlement agreement. Last week, the sides again jointly petitioned the court requesting that their pending motion for preliminary settlement approval could exceed the traditional 25-page limit.
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Nearly a week after a protective order directed the ACC to give Florida State documents, the Florida Attorney General announced that she had secured an agreement from the ACC’s attorneys to obtain ESPN media rights contracts.
In similar agreement to the one that Florida State won access to last week, the Attorney General’s agreement calls for the ACC’s 2010 multimedia rights agreement, a 2012 amendment and extension, a second amendment from 2014, a 2016 restated and amended deal, the ACC Network contract from 2016, and an August 2021 letter amendment to the current deal.
There are four other ongoing lawsuits in addition to Florida’s suit against the ACC: the ACC vs. Clemson; the ACC vs. Florida State; Clemson vs. the ACC; Florida State vs. the ACC.
At the heart of Florida State and Clemson’s lawsuits is the ACC’s “Grant of Rights” which gives the ACC the right to broadcast all member schools’ home games for the duration of their media rights deal. Florida State’s attorneys previously estimated it could cost upwards of $500 million to buy its rights back and leave the ACC, but the schools believe they should be allowed to leave the ACC without penalty.
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Georgia football's Classic City NIL collective withholding payments from players due to violations and misconduct - LINK
Husker Athletics and 1890 Nebraska partnered with the Kansas City Royals for discounted tickets to the Royals vs. White Sox game - LINK
Alabama QB Ty Simpson lands NIL deal with Harbin Automotive - LINK
Top basketball recruit, Caleb Wilson, joins Klutch Athletics by New Balance - LINK
Ohio State wide receiver and the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, Jeremiah Smith, inks an endorsement deal with Battle Sports - LINK
Sports betting charges dropped against Patriots WR Kayshon Boutte from his days at LSU - LINK

Sixteen former men's college basketball players are suing the NCAA, the Big East, the Pac-12, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the SEC, the ACC and Turner Sports Interactive, for the unauthorized use of their name, image and likeness in March Madness highlights.
Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left for Kansas to tie Memphis and force overtime in the 2008 national championship game which they eventually won. Chalmers and the other plaintiffs are suing the NCAA and their partners for the continued use of their names, images and likenesses, through highlights such as Chalmers’ three-pointer, in promoting and monetizing March Madness.
Notable plaintiffs include Kansas stars Mario Chalmers and Sherron Collins, UConn guard Ryan Boatright, and Arizona guard Jason Terry.
The lawsuit is very similar to the one filed by NC State’s 1983 mens basketball team on June 10th. The team is also suing the NCAA for the unauthorized use of their name, image and likeness.
CLICK HERE to learn more.

Tennessee’s NIL collective, the Volunteer Club, became the first collective to partner with App Cats’ CrowdCOLLECTIVE interactive platform. The platform is designed as a comprehensive mobile app tailored to each collective’s unique needs to foster vibrant communities in support of student-athletes looking for opportunities to leverage their Name, Image, and Likeness (“NIL”).
The customizable CrowdCOLLECTIVE solution creates a centralized hub for collectives to leverage their content by integrating podcasts, videos, interactive live streams, ticketing, merchandising, rewards, and much more. Through this platform, individual collectives can enhance member and donor engagement while streamlining the user experience. The Volunteer Club is the first collective to collaborate with App Cats’ CrowdCOLLECTIVE platform, but they surely wont be the last.

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