Rewritten:
This text was written by Teresa M. Walker and Ralph D. Russo from The Associated Press.

On Friday, a judge at the federal level prohibited the NCAA from enforcing their regulations that prevent athletes from being compensated for the use of their name, image, and likeness in recruiting efforts. This ruling was made in response to a request for a temporary ban from the states of Tennessee and Virginia, further weakening the NCAA’s control over collegiate athletics.

The decision made by Judge Clifton Corker in the Eastern District of Tennessee goes against a longstanding belief of the NCAA’s amateurism model: Recruits cannot be given payment by outside parties to attend a specific school.

Corker granted the injunction, stating that the NCAA’s restriction is most likely breaking federal antitrust law and causing harm to student-athletes.

The plaintiffs’ claims for the injunction indicate that the NCAA’s decision to allow athletes to profit from their fame in 2021 has led current recruits to consider potential NIL opportunities when deciding on a college.

Corker pointed out that the NCAA believes allowing NIL collectives to offer deals to recruits would blur the line between college athletics and professional sports.

“The given justifications are not convincing in promoting competition,” stated the judge. “Although the NCAA allows student-athletes to benefit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), it does not demonstrate how the timing of when a student-athlete enters into such an agreement would undermine the objective of maintaining amateurism.”

The judge recognized that the NIL rules, which were not disputed in the lawsuit, that connect deals to athletic performance may be more successful in maintaining amateurism than the ban on NIL-recruiting.

On January 31, the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia brought a lawsuit against the NCAA’s NIL regulations following the disclosure of an investigation into the University of Tennessee by the association for possible violations.

Corker denied the states’ request for a temporary restraining order, stating that the plaintiffs were unable to demonstrate that maintaining the NCAA rules would result in irreparable harm to athletes. However, Corker expressed his belief that the states were likely to ultimately succeed in their case.

The Tennessee Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, stated that the injunction guarantees the protection of athlete rights against the NCAA’s “unlawful NIL-recruitment ban.” He also mentioned that the larger battle is ongoing.

“We will pursue legal action to the maximum extent necessary in order to prevent the NCAA’s monopoly from further negatively impacting student-athletes at Tennessee,” stated Skrmetti. “The NCAA is not exempt from the law, and we have the law on our side.”

The outcome is a win for the University of Tennessee, currently under investigation by the NCAA for potential recruiting infractions. School authorities have strongly opposed the allegations.

On January 30, the head of the University of Tennessee wrote a strongly worded letter to the president of the NCAA, exposing that the organization has accused the school of breaking rules related to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). The accusations stem from agreements between athletes and a NIL collective, funded by a booster, that assists athletes on the Volunteers team. Donde Plowman denounced the NCAA staff’s actions as “dishonest” for treating students as if they have no rights to their NIL.

Tennessee has not received an official accusation from the NCAA in the form of a notice of allegations.

The NCAA’s power to control payment for players has been challenged from multiple sources.

In early February, a National Labor Relations Board representative declared that the Dartmouth men’s basketball team are considered employees of the university and have the right to vote on forming a union, a decision that the players intend to act on. The NCAA is currently facing multiple antitrust lawsuits, including one in Tennessee, while also requesting antitrust safeguards from Congress.

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College football coverage by the Associated Press: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Source: wralsportsfan.com