On December 7, 2023, Winston & Strawn LLP and Hagens Berman today filed an antitrust class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against the NCAA and the five power conferences (Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12, ACC, and Big 12). The firms also won the Alston v. NCAA in the Supreme Court and are currently prosecuting both the House v. NCAA and Hubbard v. NCAA antitrust class actions.The lawsuit challenges the NCAA’s anti-competitive “pay-for-play” rules and requests an injunction permanently restraining the NCAA from enforcing all of its unlawful and anticompetitive rules restricting the compensation and benefits that college athletes can receive in exchange for their athletic services. The case also seeks treble damages for the compensation these athletes would have received absent the NCAA’s unlawful restraints. This is the first case brought on behalf of all Division I athletes seeking to change the NCAA’s compensation rules.
