Legal warning issued to NCAA, power conferences amid NIL standoff

Another cog in the Name, Image and Likeness wheel, college football programs are facing significant difficulties with the NIL approval process, and House attorneys have answered by threatening legal action

The $2.8 billion settlement by the NCAA ushered in a new era, in part, for third-party NIL deals. Those agreements now must be vetted by the NIL Go clearinghouse – established by the College Sports Commission and run by Deloitte.

Unfortunately for athletes and programs alike, the new process is facing significant backlash, as deals are being denied for failing to meet the “valid business purpose" criteria.

Despite these pending deals including deliverables like public appearances, the College Sports Commission doesn't view that as enough to meet the new standards. And in conjunction with the NCAA and power conferences, doubled-down on their reasoning on Thursday.

House attorneys issued a notable response on Friday to the NCAA and power conferences, according to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports.

"Jeffrey Kessler, a co-lead House plaintiff attorney along with Steve Berman, requested that the NCAA and conferences 'retract' a statement of guidance released Thursday from the College Sports Commission and, presumably, reinstate name, image and likeness deals that the CSC has denied — many of them from booster-backed NIL collectives," Dellenger wrote.

Dellenger previously reported that out of over 1,200 NIL deals submitted after July 1, 80 of them have been denied with even more currently stuck in limbo.

There appears to be a sticking point between the House attorneys, programs and the NCAA/College Sports Commission on what constitutes a valid business purpose within NIL deals.

“There is nothing in the Settlement Agreement to permit (NCAA and conference) or the CSC, acting on their behalf, to decide that it would not be a valid business purpose for a school’s collective to engage in for-profit promotions of goods or services using paid-for student-athlete NIL,” the letter reads via Yahoo Sports. “To the extent the NIL payment is for the promotion of a valid business purpose, it is irrelevant whether that payment comes from a NIL collective or any other third party.”

House council plans to bring the issue before Judge Nathanael Cousins, the appointed magistrate in the settlement, if no action is taken by the College Sports Commission, according to the report.