The NCAA has “halted investigations into booster-backed collectives or other third parties” making NIL deals with Division I athletes following another courtroom loss. NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a letter to member schools Friday that the Division I BOD directed enforcement staff “to pause and not begin investigations involving third-party participation in NIL-related activities.” The move comes a week after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia. The antitrust suit challenges NCAA rules against recruiting inducements, saying that they “inhibit athletes’ ability to cash in on their celebrity and fame.” Baker noted that three specific policies involving NIL compensation “remain in place and will be enforced, including prohibitions on schools directly playing athletes and any payment or compensation being tied specifically to athletic performance” (AP, 3/1).
The Univ. of Tennessee Board of Trustees approved the university’s plan to “create a nonprofit foundation that could quickly mobilize into a fund to pay salaries to athletes if the NCAA takes that next critical step.” It would also prepare UT to “make the cut if a super subdivision of the wealthiest college sports schools breaks away from the rest of Division I.” UT Chancellor Donde Plowman said, “It’s really an effort to try to be agile and be ready for the coming changes” (KNOXVILLE NEWS SENTINEL, 3/1).
