Kate Roggio Buck spoke with Law360 about the proposed $2.78 billion Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) settlement for which a California federal judge denied preliminary approval on September 5 and sent the two sides back to renegotiate certain terms.
A radical redo is not something the NCAA seems interested in doing though, Kate said, noting that the focus of the NCAA’s legal conflicts with athletes has been about keeping them under its control. “That’s the crux of all this in the first place,” she continued. “There has to be a legitimate release of that control, and fair market has to truly mean fair market.” If the NCAA compromises to remove the restrictions within the settlement and changes its relationship to athletes, Kate added, it would satisfy all parties and the existing law.
“The NCAA could still have a really important role there, to still be a type of governing body that really works to protect athletes,” she said, including potentially a system of vetting compensation deals with an eye toward athletes’ best interest instead of its own. Instead, Buck continued, the NCAA is showing it wants business as usual: “We’re going to repaint it. It’s going to look completely different, but it’s actually still the same structure.”