Former U.S. college athletes including members of the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks men's championship basketball team have sued the National Collegiate Athletics Association, demanding to be paid for the continued commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.
More than a dozen former athletes filed the proposed class action in Manhattan federal court on Monday, contending that the NCAA — the governing body for U.S. college sports — owed them millions of dollars for using their likenesses for years in advertisements, online videos and television broadcasts.
The lawsuit alleged the NCAA violated antitrust law by restricting the compensation to students for their college athletic careers.
The plaintiffs, members of 1997, 2008, 2011 and 2014 NCAA men’s basketball championship teams, said they will seek class action status for thousands of other college sports players whose athletic service occurred prior to 2016.
“All former NCAA student-athletes have been denied the opportunity to pursue economic benefits in a competitive market free of the NCAA’s restraints,” the lawsuit said.
The NCAA and attorneys for the former athletes did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The new lawsuit comes as the NCAA is preparing to settle some legal claims in other pending “name, image and likeness” cases, in a deal that will allow member schools to share revenue with athletes directly and provide nearly $2.8 billion in past damages.
The deal in California federal court involves student athletes who played between 2016 and 2023. The NCAA has denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit include Mario Chalmers, whose late-game shot with seconds left on the clock put the Jayhawks even with the Memphis Tigers and forced overtime. “Mario’s Miracle” allowed the Jayhawks to continue playing for the 2008 win.
The athletes said they are seeking more than $5 million in damages, and they want a court order directing the NCAA to stop its alleged anticompetitive conduct.
The lawsuit said the NCAA should not be allowed to argue that the plaintiffs waited too long to sue, arguing that the statute of limitations was “repeatedly restarted” with every new alleged violation of U.S. antitrust law.
The case is Chalmers v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:24-cv-05008.
For the players: Peggy Wedgworth, Scott Harris, Michael Dunn and James DeMay of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman; Elliot Abrams of Cheshire Parker Schneider; Stacy Miller of Miller Law Group; and Scott Tompsett of Tompsett Collegiate Sports Law
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