Winston & Strawn Files New Class Action Against NCAA and Five “Power Conferences”

Winston & Strawn LLP and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP have filed a new antitrust class action in the Northern District of California against the NCAA and the Big 10, SEC, PAC-12, ACC, and Big 12 conferences. The case seeks treble damages on behalf of current and former Division I college athletes for the injuries they suffered from the rules prohibiting these athletes from receiving education-related compensation of up to $5,980 in academic or graduation incentives, which were found to be unlawful in the Alston v. NCAA case. 

“We can go back four years under the statute of limitations. The last two years are the period in which the rules have been enjoined, so now we can identify the schools that would provide the benefits and seek damages for athletes at those schools for the two years prior to that time. This is a gap in the relief Alston provided, so we’re going to fill that gap,” Winston & Strawn Co-Executive Chairman Jeffrey Kessler told The Athletic. 

The Winston team representing the athletes includes Jeffrey Kessler, David Greenspan, Jeanifer Parsigian, and Adam Dale. 

The filing was covered by the following media outlets:

• “New antitrust lawsuit against NCAA seeks millions in damages,” ABC News
• “New antitrust lawsuit against NCAA seeks millions in damages,” Associated Press
• “NCAA Faces Student Athletic Award Cash Payments Antitrust Suit,” Bloomberg Law
• “NCAA, Power 5 Conferences Face Antitrust Lawsuit Seeking Millions in Damages,” Bleacher Report
• “The attorneys who beat the NCAA in the Supreme Court are back with a new class-action antitrust suit seeking millions of dollars,” Fortune
  
• “NCAA, Power 5 Facing Potential $1B NIL Lawsuit,” Front Office Sports
• “College Athletes Hit NCAA With Suit Over Absent Payouts,” Law360
• “NCAA facing new antitrust lawsuit seeking millions in damages,” Los Angeles Times
• “NCAA Faces New Multimillion Dollar Lawsuit,” Miami Herald
  
• “NCAA faces massive potential liability for past antitrust violations,” NBC Sports
• “New antitrust lawsuit against NCAA seeks millions in damages for college athletes,” PBS
• “NCAA hit with antitrust lawsuit over student-athlete payments,” Reuters
• “NCAA facing class-action antitrust lawsuit,” Sports Business Journal
  
• “NCAA Faces New Multimillion-Dollar Lawsuit,” Sports Illustrated
• “NCAA, Power 5 face new lawsuit seeking back pay for 2 years of Alston payments,” The Athletic
• “New antitrust lawsuit against NCAA seeks millions in damages,” The Washington Post
• “NCAA, Power Five conferences facing new antitrust lawsuit over pay to athletes,” USA Today
• “New antitrust lawsuit against NCAA seeks millions in damages,” Yahoo! News