NCAA barred from enforcing NIL rules under injunction granted by federal judge

A federal judge on Friday barred the NCAA from enforcing its rules prohibiting name, image and likeness compensation from being used to recruit athletes, granting a request for a preliminary injunction from the states of Tennessee and Virginia in dealing another blow to the association’s ability to govern college sports.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker in the Eastern District of Tennessee undercuts what has been a fundamental principle of the NCAA’s model of amateurism for decades: Third parties cannot pay recruits to attend a particular school.

“The NCAA’s prohibition likely violates federal antitrust law and ha(r)ms student-athletes,” Corker wrote in granting the injunction.

The plaintiffs’ arguments in asking for the injunction suggest that since the NCAA lifted its ban on athletes being permitted to cash in on their fame in 2021 recruits are already factoring in NIL opportunities when they choose a school.