The NCAA's pain has been Big Law's gain.

Battered by lawsuits and other controversies, the National Collegiate Athletic Association spent $263 million on outside law firms over the past five years, according to the nonprofit's Internal Revenue Service filings.

In the fiscal year that ended last October, outside legal spending totaled $52.9 million, according to an NCAA filing submitted last month. A Law.com review of the organization's filings over the last five years found the biggest year of outside legal spending was 2020, when it spiked to $67.2 million.