Major college athletics programs have gotten one step closer toward becoming professional sports, where athletes are paid a salary, can receive endorsement deals and may be governed by employment laws. Most recently, a landmark settlement in House v. NCAA, 545 F. Supp. 3d 804, Case 4:20-cv-03919 (N.D. Ca. 2021), was reached whereby the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has agreed to pay nearly $2.8 billion in past damages for name, image, and likeness (NIL) as part of the settlement to the Power 5 conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-12, Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference).

Grant House, who was a swimmer at Arizona State University, filed suit on behalf of a class of athletes who were challenging the rules of the NCAA that prohibited student-athletes from profiting off of the athletes’ NIL. The suit alleged conspiracy to fix prices (at zero) for the athletes’ NIL earnings in violation of the Sherman Act, and alleged that the NCAA was unjustly enriched on the backs of the student athletes.