Tennessee attorney general files suit against NCAA
Tennessee’s office of attorney general held by Jonathan Skrmetti along with the attorney general’s office in the state of Virginia has filed a suit against the NCAA.
The complaint in the filed suit states:
The State of Tennessee and the Commonwealth of Virginia bring this antitrust case against the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The NCAA has started enforcing rules that unfairly restrict how athletes can commercially use their name, image, and likeness (better known as “NIL”) at a critical juncture in the recruiting calendar. These anticompetitive restrictions violate the Sherman Act, harm the States and the welfare of their athletes, and should be declared unlawful and enjoined.
The suit, which has been in the works for weeks to be filed, comes on the heels of the news on Tuesday that the NCAA is investigating Tennessee on their NIL practices in multiple sports. The story was broke by Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. Tennessee is currently just under investigation and have not received a letter of allegations.
Tuesday afternoon Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman’s scathing letter to NCAA President Charlie Baker was brought to light where Plowman pulled no punches.
“It is intellectually dishonest for the NCAA enforcement staff to pursue infractions cases as if student-athletes have no NIL rights and as if institutions all have been functioning post-Alston with a clear and unchanging set of rules and willfully violating them,” Plowman stated in the three page letter.”
Late Tuesday evening, noted lawyer Tom Mars on behalf of Spyre Sports offered details into the NIL agreement with quarterback Nico Iamaleava which is at the center of the investigation by the NCAA.
Following the news of the attorney general’s suit against the NCAA, Tennessee Director of Athletics Danny White took to social media to thank attorney general Skrmetti for his support of student athletes.
In December, the attorney general’s office in West Virginia filed suit over the inability to transfer multiple times. Several states joined in that suit and the NCAA changed their stance. The question now is what other states if any will join Tennessee and Virginia. It’s clear Tennessee is digging their heels in for a long fight.
