The groups lodged their challenges in federal court in California last week, urging U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland to deny preliminarily approving the accord.

One group of opponents said the proposed settlement, which was submitted to the court last month, treats women athletes unfairly compared to men. The two other groups said the accord would unfairly allow the NCAA to escape other antitrust claims.

The NCAA in a statement defended the accord, calling it an "important step in the ongoing efforts to provide increased benefits to all student-athletes."

Attorneys Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler, who negotiated the deal for the plaintiffs, said on Monday the objections had no merit.

"The settlement stands as one of the largest damages payments in antitrust history and a transformation of college sports that will benefit generations of athletes to come," Kessler said.

A preliminary hearing on the settlement is set for Sept. 5.

The settlement resolves three lawsuits that broadly claimed the NCAA’s rules prohibiting payments to athletes violated U.S. antitrust law. The NCAA has denied any wrongdoing.

One case focused on compensation for the commercial use of athletes' names, images and likenesses. Another focused on compensation for athletic service, and a third involved restrictions on payments tied to academic achievements.

The objection related to gender bias, filed by law firm MoloLamken, said the proposed settlement was structured in a way that “vastly” favors male athletes, especially football and basketball players.

In their objection, law firms Berger Montague and Freedman Normand Friedland said the proposed settlement would harm their pending antitrust case against the NCAA on behalf of students from Yale, Harvard and other Ivy League schools who claim they were denied athletic scholarships and compensation.

Law firm Korein Tillery, which also has separate pending lawsuits against the NCAA, argued that the proposed deal was short-changing athletes by potentially billions of dollars.

The settlement "allows the NCAA to check multiple items off its litigation wish list, while creating a byzantine system to insulate it from future lawsuits,” its filing said.

The case is In Re: Collegiate Athlete NIL Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 4:20-cv-03919-CW.

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