The NCAA has agreed to drop its rule permanently that prohibits athletes from negotiating the terms of name, image and similarity payments until after they enroll in school.
The change is one of the terms of a legal agreement announced on Monday between the NCAA and a group of state general prosecutors, which demanded the association last year alleging that the restriction of null negotiations violated the federal antitrust law. The agreement, which must still be approved by the judge who supervises the case, marks another step forward as the university sports industry prepares to adopt a more professional business model in the coming months.
The now abandoned rule of the NCAA was designed to try to prevent the schools and reinforcement groups from using null agreements as a recruitment incentive for athletes and incoming secondary school players in the transfer portal. Although schools and reinforcements were allowed to speak in general about the type of financial opportunities that could be available on the campus, they were forbidden to make a specific offer to an athlete until he or she was registered.
Despite efforts to prevent money from becoming an incentive, many coaches have publicly declared that null packages are an important factor in the recruiting decision -making process.
The Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a lawsuit that challenges the rule last January, a day after the University of Tennessee revealed that his athletics department was being investigated for possible recruitment violations. Skrmetti argued that the rule prevented the athletes from negotiating with a school when their negotiation power was in its peak during the recruitment process. Florida, New York, Virginia and Washington, DC, later joined the lawsuit against the NCAA.
“With a multimillion -dollar entertainment industry that rises from the Foundation of University Sports, children who make everything happen should not be the only people who denied the opportunity to prosper,” Skrmetti said in a statement on Monday. “This agreement benefits generations of athletes students, protects the universities of Tennessee from the reprisals of the NCAA and pushes university sports towards a new balance that recognizes financial reality while preserving competitive integrity. I am glad to see that the NCAA renounces to defend a world that no longer exists.”
Last February, a federal judge in Tennessee granted a preliminary judicial order against the rule. The court order has allowed reinforcement groups and schools to make specific financial offers to athletes in the recruitment process during the past year. Monday's agreement makes this change permanent. The current NCAA rules claim that only third -party groups can pay athletes for their null rights, but that is on the way to change this summer.
The association and its most powerful conferences have agreed to allow schools to pay athletes directly as part of the terms for a separate antitrust agreement, widely known as house settlement. A hearing to approve the terms of that agreement is scheduled for April 7. As part of the agreement of the House of Representatives, each school will be able to share approximately $ 20.5 million with their athletes through null agreements next year, a figure that is expected to increase constantly during the useful life of 10 years of the settlement.
A NCAA spokesman said the agreement was the result of negotiation months with the states involved.
“This agreement continues the progress that we have achieved in recent years by allowing students as possible and transferred athletes to seek null opportunities,” said the spokesman. “This trial is totally consistent with the settlement of the house and underlines our support for athletes who benefit from their null and our commitment to provide greater benefits to athletes at each stage of their university experience, creating a sustainable model for the future of university sports.”
Many schools have already begun to sign contracts with their athletes in anticipation of the approval of the agreement. Monday's agreement clears the way in that schools continue to negotiate the specific terms of these agreements with athletes during the recruitment process.
