Athlete Objections Mounting Against House v. NCAA Settlement

Athlete objections continue to mount against the House v. NCAA settlement. 

The National College Players Association, an organization run by longtime athlete advocate Ramogi Huma, blasted the settlement, calling it “unjust” and announcing he would put together a group of players to object to the proposal.

Over the past two weeks, three other groups of athletes have already submitted formal objections, and lawyers for a potential fourth said in court documents they were considering filing another. The NCPA’s objection won’t be filed ahead of the Sept. 5 hearing for preliminary approval of the settlement. Instead, it will be filed during a later stage in the months-long approval process if the judge grants preliminary approval, Huma tells Front Office Sports.

The settlement proposal, filed in July, would resolve the House case as well as two other antitrust lawsuits. It would require the NCAA and power conferences to pay $2.8 billion in damages to players who couldn’t participate in NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals before 2021, and it allows schools to share revenue with players up to $22 million for the first time.

The NCPA pointed out several issues in the settlement including:

• If a law is passed prohibiting collective bargaining, the settlement allows NCAA and power conferences to roll back these athlete benefits.
• The NCAA could prohibit NIL deals over $600, given that the settlement requires deals to be approved by a third party. (Collective operators and experts have also taken issue with this.)
• Plaintiff lawyers have to lobby in Congress on behalf of the NCAA in order to formalize the settlement.

“This is an unjust settlement that would not only harm current athletes but future college athletes

who are only in 4th grade,” Huma said in a statement. “It could even affect children who aren’t even born yet because the lawyers can agree to extend the terms of this settlement without limits. The NCPA will work to get this settlement rejected so that parties can come up with a fair settlement or go to trial.”

Huma, a former UCLA football player, was heavily involved in multiple landmark antitrust cases, and he is currently spearheading the effort to get USC football and basketball players classified as employees through the National Labor Relations Board.