The NCAA is, for the time being, legally barred from enforcing any rules limiting Name, Image and Likeness within its member institutions, and the question now is whether there will be any rules regarding NIL ever again.
The decision was handed down Friday by US District Judge Clifton L. Corker, ruling on the case brought by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia brought late last month.
That lawsuit was brought in response to the NCAA investigating the University of Tennessee for allegedly violating NIL rules in its recruitment of quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The NCAA accused Tennessee and its collective, Spyre Sports, of violating its rules when Spyre Sports flew Iamaleava on a charter plane from California to Tennessee and offered him a marketing contract worth up to $8 million.
In response, Tennessee's attorney general helped pull down all NIL rules.
"The NCAA's prohibition (on pay-for-play) likely violates federal antitrust law and harms student-athletes," Corker wrote.
Corker's ruling means that, for the time being, not only can schools not be punished for violating NCAA NIL policy, it means schools and collectives are free to use NIL as a full-fledged recruiting inducement. For all schools across the country.
Friday's ruling is far from a final, final ruling, but considering the NCAA's long, unbroken losing streak in the courts, it's hard to imagine the NCAA writing and passing any significant NIL rule without significant help from Congress.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.