Why adding Florida, New York, District of Columbia will benefit Tennessee in antitrust suit against NCAA

Caleb Jarreau, Sports Editor

May 8, 2024

Tennessee Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, speaks to the Tennessee Press Association in Nashville. Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti was working on a time crunch when he first filed the antitrust suit against the NCAA. He had conversations with many states, but the quick turn around led to just Virginia joining the case.

Now, just over three months after the initial antitrust suit filed regarding Name, Image and Likeness guidelines, more states have joined Skrmetti and Tennessee. The states of Florida, New York and the District of Columbia have joined Tennessee and Virginia as plaintiffs in the antitrust suit according to court documents filed on May 1.

“It certainly looks more and more like this is a big national issue,” Skrmetti told The Daily Beacon. “I know there was some criticism when we filed suit that it was done strictly to protect UT and while I’m not at all averse to protecting UT, there is a real underlying issue here and I think the additional states make it clear that this is not just a parochial concern.”

The states added each bring unique perspective to the case while continuing to add credibility.

Adding experience to the team

District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb is familiar with the NCAA. He was one of the litigators in the O’Bannon v. NCAA case, one of the biggest suits brought against the NCAA to date.

In the case, former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon argued that a player should received financial compensation for commercial use of image and likeness. The O’Bannon case was one of the first antitrust suits brought against the NCAA, finding that the governing body and its amateurism argument.

”I think he’ll have a lot of insights because he’s been in this space for a long time, he’s an experienced litigator,” Skrmetti said. “… We were talking at another AG get together and this topic came up and he mentioned the O’Bannon case and we really got to talking. He knows his stuff on the issue, really thought it through. I think he’ll add a lot of value and I’m glad he’s on board.”

Day-to-day, Schwalb can lean on his experience going against the NCAA, and winning, as the case slowly moves forward.

Crossing political lines

Tennessee’s attorney general is in a unique position to be appointed and not elected. Oftentimes, this adds credibility to the position and also allows for work to be done without worrying about the political repercussions.

It also allows the attorney general to work with others from across the political spectrum, evident in the antitrust suit against the NCAA. One of those is New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James has recently made headlines for pursuing

Skrmetti admits that he has political differences with James, but there are things the two agree on. It is some of those differences that Skrmetti thinks makes the state of New York’s addition to the case even more important.

“I was thrilled to get General James in here in part because she is so very different than me,” Skrmetti said. “I think it always adds legitimacy in the eyes of the court when you have a broad collection of people with different perspectives who are all pushing for the same thing. I say, plus, like these days there’s not a lot of bipartisanship and so just on principle reminding people that it can happen.”

James highlight the bipartisan collaboration on the antitrust seat, joining Skrmetti and other Republican-leaning attorney generals from Florida and Virginia. The partisan difference allow for different perspectives when it comes to litigation and strategy. Touching different regions of the country also allows for the same.

What’s next?

It seems that neither the plaintiffs nor the NCAA are in a rush to get the case in front of court. For the coalition of states, being granted a preliminary injunction was the first step in the case. Had they been denied, Skrmetti says they would be aggressively litigating the case.

There’s cases currently in court, like the House v. NCAA case in California. There is also been reporting of an incoming “super league” that could reshape the landscape of collegiate athletics.

With everything going on in and outside of the courtroom, it doesn’t surprise Skrmetti the case hasn’t moved forward quickly. With the rules enjoined, Skrmetti’s office is comfortable with where the case is at current.

“Both the attorney general’s office and the NCAA have a lot going on in other cases and from our perspective, we got what we need and if we won we just get more of the same,” Skrmetti said. So, if this case takes 10 years to get the final resolution, I would be totally fine with that. But, we’ll see what.”