Antitrust class action targets NCAA's Division III athletic scholarship ban
Three current and former Division III athletes have filed a putative class action in federal court in California arguing that the NCAA's prohibition on athletic scholarships at the D-III level amounts to an illegal price-fixing conspiracy that suppresses athlete compensation to zero. The named plaintiffs — a senior football player at Pacific Lutheran University, a former Claremont McKenna basketball player, and a former dual-sport athlete at the University of Lynchburg — seek to represent a class potentially numbering in the hundreds of thousands of athletes who have competed in D-III since October 2022. The suit targets a specific NCAA bylaw that bars member institutions from awarding financial aid based on athletic ability or participation, and plaintiffs are pursuing treble damages under federal antitrust law. The complaint leans on recent antitrust precedents, including the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in NCAA v. Alston, to argue the scholarship ban warrants scrutiny that an earlier failed challenge in Indiana did not receive.
The NCAA has engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to fix the price of Division III athletic labor at zero by prohibiting every member of Division III, the NCAA's largest division at more than 400 schools, from offering a single penny of athletic scholarship,
Why it matters
For service providers: A successful class certification and damages award could expose the NCAA to billions of dollars in liability, with ripple effects across the entire association structure.
For brands: The case highlights the growing gap between NCAA amateurism rules and the NIL landscape, which already allows D-III athletes to earn endorsement income.
For coaches: A ruling against the NCAA could reshape recruiting at D-III schools by allowing athletic financial aid as a tool to attract talent.
For athletes: College athletes competing at the D-III level could gain access to athletic scholarships if the lawsuit succeeds, fundamentally changing how participation is financially supported at that level.
Read the full story at Sportico
Sources
- Sportico · Daniel: NCAA Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Ban on D-III Athletic Scholarships