Lawrence Cohen’s Post

I recently spoke with CBS Sports on #NIL. Here are the items I said to keep an eye on: (1) Does Congress ever pass legislation on the subject and will it include a section that affirmatively labels college athletes as not being employees? (2) What happens with the appeal on the Dartmouth basketball players' effort to unionize and collectively bargain for working conditions? (3) What will be the NLRB's decision in the pending action concerning UCLA and USC athletes? (4) Does Charlie Baker's proposal to allow colleges to directly compensate athletes for their NIL rights ever get passed? (5) How many states decide to follow in Virginia's footsteps and modify their NIL laws to allow schools to directly compensate athletes for their NIL rights despite an NCAA prohibition on same? (6) Will any pending lawsuit lead to a court's determination that athletes have been misclassified as not being employees, and what will be the economic consequences? Thoughts? #LinkedInSports https://lnkd.in/ej4XrRyz

Talk with college sports stakeholders far and wide – from inside power conferences to Football Championship Subdivision outposts – and they’ll tell you the same thing: A coming revenue-sharing model is inevitable. We’re on the precipice of schools for the first time being allowed to share dollars with athletes. Universities are adjusting budget forecasts in advance of college sports’ new world order. A growing number of industry leaders, everyone from those in the administrative class to old-school football coaches, are now proponents of athletes receiving a slice of the revenue pie. https://lnkd.in/g4F3v982

'NCAA, leagues back $2.8 billion settlement, setting stage for current, former athletes to be paid' "The NCAA and the nation's five biggest conferences (Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference and Southeastern Conference) announced Thursday night that they have agreed to pay nearly $2.8 billion to settle a host of antitrust claims, a monumental decision that sets the stage for a groundbreaking revenue-sharing model that could start steering millions of dollars directly to athletes as soon as the 2025 fall semester." "They signal the end of the NCAA’s bedrock amateurism model that dates to its founding in 1906. Indeed, the days of NCAA punishment for athletes driving booster-provided cars started vanishing three years ago when the organization lifted restrictions on endorsement deals backed by so-called name, image and likeness money. "The suit also argued that athletes were entitled to a piece of the billions of dollars the NCAA and those conferences earn from media rights agreements with television networks." "Major college athletics is about to become more like professional sports than ever before." ---------------------------------------- Joint Statement from: NCAA President Charlie Baker, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D., Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey "The five autonomy conferences and the NCAA agreeing to settlement terms is an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come. This settlement is also a road map for college sports leaders and Congress to ensure this uniquely American institution can continue to provide unmatched opportunity for millions of students. All of Division I made today's progress possible, and we all have work to do to implement the terms of the agreement as the legal process continues. We look forward to working with our various student-athlete leadership groups to write the next chapter of college sports." #NCAA #collegesports #college #sports #athletes

The NCAA's transfer rule has never been a "hot button" issue for me because college athletes don't have "free agency" rights even if there are no transfer restrictions and the transfer rule has its pluses and minuses. Nevertheless, here are my questions about this lawsuit: 1. Is this lawsuit about college athletes' rights or is it about, as the Ohio AG says, college sports being "treated under the same kinds of laws and competition requirements other businesses have to live by"? If it's the latter, then getting rid of the transfer rule certainly wouldn't be accomplishing that objective whatsoever because other businesses have to live by a free market compensation system and they don't sell a product of league sports competition [are there any league sports that don't have a transfer rule in some shape or form?]. 2. How does the outcome of this lawsuit affect transfer rules at the high school level? And this is why the answer to the first question matters. If it's about athletes' rights then there really is no justification for high school athletic association rules either. If the state legislatures and AGs think high school athletes have "NIL" rights like the college athletes, then why not transfer rights too? #ncaa #transferstudents #highschoolsports https://lnkd.in/gPD2hqsg

The House v NCAA case has the potential to substantially change NCAA Division 1 college athletics. A settlement offer is on the table as we speak and it pits the Power 5 conferences verses the remaining Division 1 conferences. As I understand, two Power 5 conferences (Big 12 and ACC) have approved the settlement, with the others expected this week. The remaining Division 1 conferences are searching for an alternative solution. The financial impacts are substantial. There is deep concern for non-revenue sports and how Title 9 will play out. If you support Division 1 athletics, read the attached article and get familiar with the House v NCAA case.

#linkedinsports Most of us in the college sports world know, that Senator, Ted Cruz hosted an NIL round table on Capitol Hill. But did you know not one of the special invited guest where African American. The round table was suppose to focus on "establishing clear NIL regulations in college football." I appreciate the advocates who are voicing support for college athletes regarding NIL. It's disappointing that none of the speakers invited to share their experiences and insights in shaping the opinions of this round table were African-American. Considering that the majority of revenue-generating sports like football and men’s basketball are played by African-Americans, the decisions made in these discussions have the most significant impact on our athletes. #tipsbytabb- How can we ensure all athletes are benefiting from NIL, when all athletes aren’t represented and the table lacks diversity. #blackwomeninsports #branding #marketing #NIL #Studentathletes #blacksportsbiz https://lnkd.in/e7Ea5Yic

Will schools finally pay student-athletes? What a historic settlement means for the NCAA and players. More than 14,000 athletes from 2016 to 2020 are expected to receive more than $2.7 billion in damages, a testament to the fairness of the legal system. The NCAA and the five largest athletic conferences agreed to settle three antitrust suits brought by college athletes who claimed they were deprived of financial gain by only receiving scholarships in exchange for their play. If a judge in California approves the agreement, the NCAA would have to pay out more than $2.7 billion in damages over ten years to current and former athletes who are now a form of a so-called class of plaintiffs who represent the suit. The group consists of 14,000 players enrolled as student-athletes from 2016 to 2020. The settlement explains that it would institute a 10-year revenue-sharing plan to guarantee the active players and collective up to 22% of their schools’ share of media broadcasts and ticket sales. It was reported that it suggests that it would initially equal more than $20 million a year per school in most instances. Still, the figure could increase as much as lucrative TV deals, such as those signed with significant networks for broadcasting rights, are signed. If this is all approved, the plan will start in the fall of 2025. Yahoo Sports first reported this about the agreement. By: Rob Wile NBC News #NCAA #athletes #conferences  #NBCNews #YahooSports  #studentathletes #colleges

The NCAA, power conferences, and plaintiff athletes filed their proposed settlement agreement in the House case this past Friday. Much has already been written about the proposed settlement agreement, so I will provide three thoughts on a single aspect – the future role of collectives in college athletics.   1.       It looks to me like the NCAA, power conferences and their institutions, and athletes are attempting to use the House settlement agreement as a de facto collective bargaining agreement to implement market controls. At the professional sports level, collective bargaining exempts the parties from antitrust laws when they agree to terms or behaviors that would otherwise artificially manipulate a free market (e.g., salary caps). The parties here are not collectively bargaining given the NCAA’s (and universities’) ongoing stance that college athletes are not employees. It will be interesting to see if this approach succeeds in binding the hands of third-party collectives who are not parties to this settlement, and whether a collective’s inability to sign an athlete to a higher-value deal (thereby losing out on the athlete for themselves and their institution) could be construed as an antitrust injury. 2.       The proposed House agreement limits the amount collectives could pay to the fair market value of athletes’ NIL rights. Under the precise language of the agreement, collectives could not enter into NIL agreements with athletes "unless the license/payment is for a valid business purpose related to the promotion or endorsement of goods or services provided to the general public for profit, with compensation at rates and terms commensurate with compensation paid to similarly situated individuals with comparable NIL value who are not current or prospective student-athletes at the Member Institution." Whenever I see the parties trying to police fair market values, I think of the NCAA’s pre-NIL attempts to put in place "guardrails," on how much the athletes could earn and how it quickly deviated from that path when the DOJ sent the NCAA a letter stating its restrictions "may raise concerns under the antitrust laws." 3. I find it interesting that the proposed agreement seeks to cap collectives’ payments to athletes at fair market value, but does not impose a similar limitation on institutions’ payment to athletes ("Member institutions… shall unilaterally decide/determine whether and how much of any benefits newly permitted by this Injunctive Relief Settlement to provide to any individual Division I student-athlete (up to the Pool amount)." Presumably, schools will pay to attract athletic talent, not for the FMV of any athlete's NIL rights.   I certainly expect collectives to challenge the proposed limitations.    

The NCAA, the Power Five conferences, and lawyers for the plaintiffs in three antitrust cases concerning the compensation of college athletes on Thursday completed approvals of a proposed settlement that would include a nearly $2.8 billion damages pool for current and former athletes and fundamentally alter how current and future athletes are paid for playing their sports. "Ecstatic to get this done," Steve Berman, one of the plaintiffs' lead attorneys, told USA TODAY Sports said as he was transmitting a letter to the court overseeing the cases. "When we started this, I never dreamed of this day. It's a revolutionary moment in college sports." @Steve Berkowitz, author of the story for USA Today, writes that: "According to a summary of proposed settlement terms first reported by Yahoo Sports! and ESPN and later obtained by USA TODAY Sports, the NCAA would fund the damages pool over a 10-year period and schools would begin sharing future revenues with athletes. More than half of the money for the damages pool would come from reductions in the NCAA’s distributions to all Division I schools and conferences. Anyone else wonder if this is a win or loss for "amateur college athletics? What are your thoughts? https://lnkd.in/euB9Wi6d #usatoday #nil #ncaa

'NCAA, leagues back $2.8 billion settlement, setting stage for current, former athletes to be paid' "The NCAA and the nation's five biggest conferences (Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference and Southeastern Conference) announced Thursday night that they have agreed to pay nearly $2.8 billion to settle a host of antitrust claims, a monumental decision that sets the stage for a groundbreaking revenue-sharing model that could start steering millions of dollars directly to athletes as soon as the 2025 fall semester." "They signal the end of the NCAA’s bedrock amateurism model that dates to its founding in 1906. Indeed, the days of NCAA punishment for athletes driving booster-provided cars started vanishing three years ago when the organization lifted restrictions on endorsement deals backed by so-called name, image and likeness money. "The suit also argued that athletes were entitled to a piece of the billions of dollars the NCAA and those conferences earn from media rights agreements with television networks." "Major college athletics is about to become more like professional sports than ever before." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Joint Statement from: NCAA President Charlie Baker, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D., Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey "The five autonomy conferences and the NCAA agreeing to settlement terms is an important step in the continuing reform of college sports that will provide benefits to student-athletes and provide clarity in college athletics across all divisions for years to come. This settlement is also a road map for college sports leaders and Congress to ensure this uniquely American institution can continue to provide unmatched opportunity for millions of students. All of Division I made today's progress possible, and we all have work to do to implement the terms of the agreement as the legal process continues. We look forward to working with our various student-athlete leadership groups to write the next chapter of college sports." #NCAA #collegesports #college #sports #athletes