Eight female athletes from various sports—including college soccer, volleyball, and track and field—have filed an appeal challenging a recent antitrust settlement involving the House and the NCAA.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement, which facilitates direct payments from universities to athletes.
The athletes argue that women are being denied a fair share of $2.7 billion in backpay, linked to restrictions on monetizing their own names, images, and likenesses (NIL).
The group includes Breeding Casey from Vanderbilt, Lexi Drum, Emma Appleman, Emmy Wannemacher, Riley Haas, Savannah Baron, and Elizabeth Arnold from the University of Charleston, with Virginia’s Kate Johnson leading the challenge against the settlement.
Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, stated that the settlement is at odds with Title IX, which aims to prevent gender discrimination in education.
Hare emphasized, “While we do support a settlement, it must align with federal law. The past damage estimates fail to consider Title IX and ultimately strip female athletes of $1.1 billion. The proposed financial distribution would cause lasting harm to women’s sports.”
The House settlement is expected to allocate a significant portion of the $20.5 million yearly figure primarily to men’s soccer and basketball at major schools, which will be shared with athletes over the upcoming year. This may endanger some athletes from other sports, risking their partial scholarships or participation on the team.
“The focus on men’s soccer and basketball undermines the settlement without providing real benefits for female athletes,” Hare added. “Congress has explicitly rejected the idea of exempting certain sports from the Title IX mission. The NCAA shares our stance. Our appeal argues the same points that the NCAA raised prior to resolving the lawsuit.”
This appeal, filed by the law firm Hutchinson Black along with a chef based in Boulder, Colorado, is set to be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
