A federal judge said Wednesday that she cannot approve the proposed settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and Power Five conferences in its current form because of roster limits that were set to go into effect as part of the agreement.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken wrote that she was inclined to approve the rest of the deal over a variety of other objections. That means she is otherwise prepared to accept an arrangement under which $2.8 billion in damages would be paid to current and former athletes — and their lawyers — over 10 years, and Division I schools would be able to start paying athletes directly for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL), subject to a per-school cap that would increase over time and be based on a percentage of certain athletics revenues.
However, during a final-approval hearing on April 7, she strongly suggested a system of phased-in implementation of the proposed sport-by-sport roster limits, which were to take effect on July 1 alongside an end to the NCAA’s existing system of sport-by-sport scholarship limits. And she gave the principals a week to consider that modification, as well as several other smaller ones.
The principals submitted a revised version of the deal that did not include changes to the roster limits, and now the NCAA and its schools and conferences are left with a potentially chaotic situation.
Wilken wrote that within 14 days the parties “shall make their best efforts” to consult with a mediator “about potential modifications of the settlement agreement to address (her) concerns.” And she requested that three attorneys who represented clients objecting to the settlement because of the roster limits “consult remotely, together or separately” with the mediator and the lawyers for the principals.
In the meantime, she issued a case scheduling order that would begin to move the case toward a trial date that was left unspecified.
Steve Berman, the one of the lead attorneys for the athlete plaintiffs wrote in an email to USA TODAY Sports: “The good news is she overruled all the objections but one. As for the roster issue, armed with the leverage of this order, we are confident we can convince the NCAA and the conferences to fix the issue so that we satisfy Judge Wilken. If not, the Judge has re started the pre trial schedule in House and so be it if there is no fix.”
The NCAA did not have any immediate comment.
Laura Reathaford, one of the three objectors’ lawyers referenced by Wilken, wrote in a text message: “We are very happy with today’s order from Judge Wilken regarding the phasing-in of roster limits. The judge followed the law. We look forward to working with the parties on an amicable resolution to this problem.”
Under class-action antitrust law cited by Wilken, a settlement can be approved only if it “treats class members equitably relative to each other.”
She added that: “Because the settlement agreement is not fair and reasonable to the significant number of class members whose roster spots will be or have been taken away because of the immediate implementation of the settlement agreement, the Court cannot approve the settlement agreement in its current form.”
She wrote that one way of resolving this “could be to modify the settlement agreement to ensure that no (athletes) who have or had a roster spot will lose it as a result of the immediate implementation of the settlement agreement.”
Wilken wrote that she is otherwise prepared to approve the settlement. She wrote that, with the exception of the “immediate implementation of the roster limits that will cause harm to certain” athletes, she “tentatively finds that (she) can grant final approval of the remainder of the settlement agreement as fair, reasonable, and adequate … notwithstanding” other objections to the settlement, which she said she “inclined to overrule.”
(New information was added to this story).
Judge refuses to approve NCAA settlement that would allow revenue sharing for college athletes – USA Today
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