Hagens Berman Responds to Appeals to NCAA College Athlete Name, Image and Likeness Settlement

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following the federal court’s final approval to a historic $20 billion plus settlement with the NCAA allowing payments and benefits to college athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL), Hagens Berman responded to the first appeal.

To address questions from NCAA athletes about the impact of the appeal, Hagens Berman issued the following statement:

“Attorneys John Clune and Ashlyn Hare of Hutchinson Black and Cook LLC and Rebecca Peterson-Fisher of Katz Banks Kumin LLP have filed a notice of their intent to appeal the historic NCAA settlement approved June 6, 2025, by Judge Claudia Wilken.

“This appeal will block payments to hundreds of thousands of athletes, delaying payments by a minimum of several months to potentially a year or more. These attorneys are pursuing an appeal based on a Title IX issue that Judge Wilken already disposed of correctly, quickly and multiple times.

“Judge Wilken noted that these attorneys cited ‘no authority that Title IX applies to damages awards distributions or that damages distributions made by a claims administrator are subject to Title IX.’”

“This is an antitrust case about competition, it is not a Title IX case, and now hundreds of thousands of athletes will have to wait to recover for past wrongs that were addressed in this lawsuit in order for these attorneys to take on this unrelated issue,” added Hagens Berman co-founder and managing partner, Steve Berman, who serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel. “If these lawyers believe that a Title IX case will succeed, they should bring it and not hijack payments to college athletes that could be lifechanging.”

Straight from the Bench

In Judge Wilken’s June 6, 2025, opinion on the order granting final approval to the settlement, the court clearly states that it overrules objections, noting, “There is nothing in the SA [settlement agreement] that would prevent or prohibit schools from distributing benefits and compensation pursuant to the Injunctive Relief Settlement in a manner that complies with Title IX.”

Berman added, “Judge Wilken had made that same ruling earlier in the case, theoretically allowing objectors ample time to find authority to back up their objection, and they failed. It’s a shame given this utter failure they will be holding up payments to athletes. I say shame on them.”

Hagens Berman represents a class of nearly 400,000 college athletes in the lawsuit in which the total value under the new revenue-sharing model is expected to exceed $20 billion over the next 10 years. The settlement resolves three pending antitrust lawsuits, House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA, and Carter v. NCAA.

Class members in the three affected cases may find out more about the claim process by visiting the settlement website at collegeathletecompensation.com.

Find out more about the class-action lawsuit against the NCAA and its member conferences.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs’ rights complex litigation law firm with a tenacious drive for achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. Since its founding in 1993, the firm’s determination has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of “Most Feared Plaintiff’s Firm,” MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.