NCAA to Pay $209M Settlement in Class Action Lawsuit by Former College Athletes

NCAA has agreed to pay $208.7 million settlement in a class action lawsuit from the former college athlete. They filed the lawsuit accusing NCAA and 11 athletic conferences have capped their scholarship illegally.

NCAA announced the settlement on Saturday, Feb. 4 as reported by NBC Sports. The settlement is needed to be approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken who presides the case. However, the settlement does not dismiss the antitrust case against NCAA.

The original lawsuit was filed in 2014 by former West Virginia University running back Shawne Alston and other co-plaintiffs. They filed a complaint about NCAA and its members to cap the maximum grant-in-aid and diminish the value of their scholarship. The conspiracy has denied the student-athlete to receive their wage for attending their respective schools.

The lawsuits are combined suits filed by former college athletes of men’s and women’s basketball players in Division I, along with football players who competed in the eight seasons from the 2009-10 season to 2016-17. They argued that conspiracy between NCAA and other athletic conferences had made them not receiving the wage for cost-of-attendance, which are expenses beyond tuition, room and board, books, and fees.

In January 2015, the five big conferences of the NCAA consist of ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12 and SEC agreed to pass legislation to allow schools to increase the cost of athletic scholarship. The cost was increased by several thousand dollars from the actual cost of attending college or university, which make student-athletes failed to receive their stipends for cost-of-attendance.

According to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Steve Berman, from the $208.7 million settlement, each member of the class is expected to receive approximately $6,000. While according to report from ABC, NCAA said the settlement is agreed because it is aligned with the policy to divide the line between professional and collegiate athlete.

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NCAA, NCAA athletes compensation, NCAA Lawsuit, NCAA athletic scholarship

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