In this week’s Film Room, we contextualize news regarding potential future NIL regulation and flag developing legal challenges to eligibility rules.
NIL Regulation and Enforcement
The proposed House settlement includes placeholders for both (1) NIL regulation going forward; and (2) the system to manage those regulations.
The way these placeholders are fulfilled will have a major impact on the future structure of college athletics. Exactly what kinds of deals will be subject to fair market value (FMV) scrutiny? By what criteria will these deals be assessed—in other words, what is FMV? What happens if a deal is above FMV?
The NCAA and Defendant Conferences, who will ultimately provide the answers to those questions, have not yet offered guidance. However, reporting last week by Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger indicated that a third-party entity would oversee, manage and enforce the settlement-related athlete compensation system. The membership awaits important detail about how such an enterprise would be funded, the criteria by which FMV and other determinations would be made and the penalties and other consequences of non-compliance.
When available, the specifics of the NIL regulatory system will be critical for institutions to internalize. The nimblest institutions will adjust processes to align with the structure, empowering the compliant optimization of an institution’s third-party support.
Legal Challenges to the Eligibility Rules
Following the Pavia injunction, the NCAA has faced additional legal challenges to its eligibility rules.
On February 6, 2025, a Wisconsin federal district court granted student-athlete Nyzier Fourqurean’s request for an injunction prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing the rule limiting eligibility to five years. The fact pattern in Fourqurean includes some nuance that the Court noted as relevant to its decision, including Fourqurean’s time as a Division II student-athlete and certain personal hardships experienced in that period.
On February 7, 2025, the NCAA filed a notice of appeal in Fourqurean. That same day, a Massachusetts federal district court denied a similar request by former Division II baseball student-athlete Trey Ciulla-Hall to enjoin the NCAA from enforcing the five-year rule as it related to him.
With an evolving patchwork of eligibility-related court opinions, add eligibility rules to the list of topics ripe for congressional input.
[View source.]
