KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The NCAA has 30 more days to respond to a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia after a judge granted an extension on the deadline. Now, the NCAA will have until May 1 to respond to arguments laid out in the lawsuit.
Originally, the collegiate sports association would have had to file a response by April 1.
Previously, a federal judge in the lawsuit sided with Tennessee and Virginia, granting an injunction that bars the NCAA from enforcing rules it set over name, image and likeness deals for student-athletes. The judge had previously declined to grant a temporary restraining order in the lawsuit — a more urgent order that would have also barred the NCAA from enforcing rules over NIL deals.
"Agreements between NIL collectives and student-athletes are undoubtedly commercial transactions. It necessarily follows that NCAA rules restricting negotiations of those agreements are also explicitly commercial in nature," the order said.
NIL deals are administered through collectives that are supposed to operate independently of universities. In 2021, the NCAA issued "interim" guidelines about how they should work.
They generate and pool revenue raised through contributions from a wide variety of sources, including boosters, businesses, fans, and more, the Internal Revenue Service states. That money then goes to student-athletes trying to capitalize on their NIL.
State leaders previously said that the lack of clarity in the NCAA's rules hurt student-athletes. The NCAA previously said that the lawsuit illustrated the importance of Congress passing laws governing NIL deals, to ensure rules were clearly laid out for schools and student-athletes.
The University of Tennessee acknowledged early this year it had become the target of an NCAA investigation involving NIL regulations and recruitment, perhaps including that of star California quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Chancellor Donde Plowman reacted swiftly and angrily, denying UT had done anything wrong and accusing the NCAA of waffling and inconsistent leadership in the oversight of NIL regulations. Tennessee and Virginia then quickly filed suit against the NCAA in federal court.
