Gregg Clifton Submits Letter on Behalf of the International Tennis Association Voicing Their Concerns with NCAA's NIL Settlement

January 30, 2025 Phoenix Partner Gregg Clifton submitted a letter on behalf of the International Tennis Association that voices the organization's concerns with the NCAA's pending $2.78 billion class action settlement with college athletes over name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights.

Phoenix, Ariz. (January 30, 2025) - Phoenix Partner Gregg Clifton submitted a letter on behalf of the International Tennis Association that voices the organization's concerns with the NCAA's pending $2.78 billion class action settlement with college athletes over name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights.

The ITA serves as the governing body for varsity college tennis as well as the coaches' association for the sport. Mr. Clifton submitted the ITA's letter in response to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's invitation for interested parties to provide comments and potential objections to the pending settlement in the landmark House v. NCAA NIL litigation, which garnered Judge Wilken's preliminary approval last October.

In the letter, Mr. Clifton notes that while the ITA "is not opposed to the settlement of the House matter, it is concerned about the potential adverse impact that some of the current language contained in the proposed settlement agreement may have on varsity collegiate tennis players, and, in fact, upon the majority of current and future NCAA varsity collegiate athletes."

"The majority of these student-athletes derive little or any financial benefit from the settlement and may severely suffer from the potential negative impacts of the settlement," Mr. Clifton wrote.

The ITA's submission details several specific concerns that the organization has with the pending settlement.

The letter states that the ITA finds it "incredibly disturbing" that, under the proposed settlement terms, 95 cents of every dollar being distributed for past damages and via revenue-sharing will go to athletes in two sports: football and basketball. This arrangement, the ITA says, means that recent NCAA women's and men's tennis champions - who have also been highly successful on the international tournament circuit - will receive less compensation than many far less distinguished football and basketball players.

Another of the ITA's key concerns is the potential detrimental impact that the settlement in its current form could have on the future success of college sports programs other than football and basketball. The ITA states that it is "easy to imagine how many college sports, currently flourishing on campuses across America, could quickly be in danger of facing scholarship and budget reductions, possibly relegated to club sports status or disappearing entirely during massive changes to the college sports landscape as contemplated in and potentially resulting from the House v. NCAA settlement as currently constituted."

Mr. Clifton is chair of Lewis Brisbois' Collegiate & Professional Sports Law Practice, and a member of the firm’s Entertainment, Media & Sports and Labor & Employment Practices. He has extensive experience in the collegiate and professional sports world and has advised numerous professional franchises on a range of labor and employment issues. Mr. Clifton is also an editor of The Official Review, Lewis Brisbois’ sports law blog.