Tennis players suing NCAA over prize money can band together in class action, judge rules

By Mike Scarcella

July 28 (Reuters) - A federal judge in North Carolina ruled that two college tennis players suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association over curbs on tournament prize money can represent thousands of players in a nationwide class action.

In a ruling on Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles of the federal court in Greensboro, North Carolina certified a class of some 12,000 students who have competed in the top tier of NCAA tennis since March 2020.

Tennis players for U.S. colleges are banned from accepting any money other than necessary expenses linked to third-party tournaments. Prospective tennis players in the NCAA’s Division 1 — the highest competitive level for U.S. college athletes — cannot accept more than $10,000 a year.

The plaintiffs — including Reese Brantmeier, who plays for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — said they forfeited thousands of dollars in prize money before college to allow them to compete for their schools.

Maya Joint, the other plaintiff, is no longer eligible to play college tennis after accepting more off-campus prize money than the rules allow, the judge said in her ruling.

Brantmeier and Joint alleged the NCAA's prize money restrictions are an illegal restraint that violates federal antitrust law. Their lawsuit said the curb is harming competition in the market for Division 1 tennis players.

The NCAA and attorneys for Brantmeier and Joint did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Brantmeier filed the lawsuit last year, adding to a wave of cases accusing the NCAA of violating antitrust law by restricting compensation and other benefits for student athletes.

The NCAA since then agreed to a $2.8 billion settlement to resolve three lawsuits in California that will allow schools for the first time to pay college athletes for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.

In the tennis players' case, the athletic association argued that the plaintiffs had not met the necessary legal criteria for class certification.

The NCAA also said some players could lose their team spots if elite players who are now earning money on the professional circuit could also compete for their schools.

The tennis players and NCAA have proposed a summer 2026 trial.

The case is Reese Brantmeier et al v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina, No. 1:24-cv-00238-CCE-JEP.

For plaintiff: Peggy Wedgworth and Daniel Bryson of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman; Jason Miller of Miller Monroe Holton & Plyler; and Joel Lulla

For defendant: Rakesh Kilaru and Calanthe Arat of Wilkinson Stekloff; Matille Bowden of ArentFox Schiff; and Alan Ruleystate of Bell, Davis & Pitt

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