Amit Rana and Philip Sheng published “Mich. Ruling Narrows Former Athletes' Path To NIL Recovery” in Law360 today. The following is an excerpt:
On Sept. 26, a federal judge dismissed a proposed $50 million class action brought by four former University of Michigan football players against the NCAA, the Big Ten Conference and the Big Ten Network.
The dismissal in Robinson v. NCAA, by U.S. District Judge Terrence Berg of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, marks the latest in a string of district court rulings rejecting bids for compensation by former student-athletes whose college careers ended before the NCAA began allowing them to profit from name, image and likeness.
The former players—Denard Robinson, Braylon Edwards, Michael Martin and Shawn Crable—alleged that the defendants unlawfully exploited their NIL for decades without compensation.
The move follows similar decisions in cases brought by former Ohio State University and University of Kansas players—the July 18 decision in Pryor v. NCAA and the April 28 decision in Chalmers v. NCAA, respectively—where it was found that decades-old NIL claims could not proceed.
Collectively, these rulings demonstrate how statutes of limitation and prior NIL settlements are effectively foreclosing NIL claims for pre-2016 student-athletes.
For the full article, click here.