1852 – First intercollegiate sporting contest; Harvard-Yale rowing.

1860s – 1900 – Harvard, Yale, and Princeton dominate intercollegiate sports; college sports are mostly student-run; Yale’s Walter Camp “invents” American football

1900-1930 – National college athletic governance begins in 1906 with what would become the NCAA (1910); national regulation driven by football-related safety concerns following spate of serious injuries and deaths conferences and individual schools agree to rules governing competition, known as “home rule”; NCAA first formulates statements on amateurism in 1916 and 1922; NCAA has no enforcement authority; amateurism rules largely ignored; popularity of football blossoms; first wave of construction of permanent football stadiums; Harvard builds first such stadium in 1903 (40,000), Yale follows suit in 1914 (75,000)

1916 – College sports stakeholders, including the NCAA, ask the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to conduct a study of American college athletics.

1920 – Congress ratifies the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution guaranteeing to women the right to vote.

1920 – Former semi-pro basketball player Chuck Taylor approaches the Converse shoe company with a proposal to conduct basketball clinics and promote Converse shoes at the same time

1925 – Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football” and national advocate for the development of college football dies.

1926 – NBC airs first college football radio broadcast.

1926 – Carnegie Foundation agrees to conduct a study on American college athletics.

1927 – Carnegie Foundation publishes Games and Sport in British Schools and Universities (Howard Savage principal author), a generally favorable critique of British scholastic sports; discussion of “amateurism” predominates.

1929 – Carnegie Foundation publishes American College Athletics which achieves notoriety as a landmark study of sports in American colleges and universities; Henry Pritchett writes a preface condemning American college sports as a threat to the intellectual mission of American universities

1939 – First televised football game; Fordham v Waynesboro State; NBC New York affiliate; televised football initially viewed skeptically by schools and NCAA as a threat to live football attendance and gate receipts.

1940 – NCAA concludes that radio broadcasts of college football do not harm live attendance; in fact, evidence supports an overall increase in demand.

1941 – NCAA adopts constitution.

1944 – Congress passes the G.I. Bill of Rights, which includes educational benefits, increases the demand for college seats, and opens higher education to the American middle class.

1945 – Ivy Group lays the foundation for the formation of the Ivy League; no athletic scholarships.

1948 – NCAA passes the Sanity Code, which limits scholarships to tuition and fees only; athletes must be admitted under standards applicable to all students.

1950 – Sanity Code rescinded when members openly oppose it; vote to expel non-compliant members fails.

1951 – NCAA hires Walter Byers as its first full-time chief executive officer; Byers would serve in that role until 1987.

1951 – NCAA membership agrees to test whether live attendance is hurt by televised football games; NCAA enters into a contract with Westinghouse to televise a limited number of national and regional games; NCAA signs exclusive football broadcast contract with NBC for the 1952 season worth $1.14 million; NCAA prohibits other members from negotiating their own TV deals; University of Pennsylvania defies ban and enters into contract with ABC; NCAA declares Penn a member not in good standing and persuades teams on Penn’s schedule to refuse to play; Penn capitulates and rescinds ABC contract; this lays the foundation for the NCAA’s monopoly over television football revenue for the next thirty years; move also enhances NCAA regulatory authority.

1951 – 1952 – Basketball point-shaving scandals at City College of New York, West Point, and Kentucky rock college sports; NCAA, for the first time, uses its newly acquired enforcement authority to issue a one-year ban from competition to Kentucky; establishes NCAA as a credible enforcement agency.

1950 – 1952 – Several serious football injuries lead to lawsuits by injured players claiming they are university employees for purposes of workers’ compensation laws; after two inconsistent rulings in Colorado, the NCAA and Byers invent the term “student-athlete” as a litigation and public relations ploy to support their arguments that athletes are students, not employees.

1954 – US Supreme Court issues landmark civil rights decision Brown v Board of Education.

1956 – 1957 – NCAA capitulates to big-time sports schools and officially permits full athletic scholarships that include tuition, fees, room, board, and “laundry money”; many see this as open professionalism

1950s/60s – Southern football schools begin to play northern and midwestern schools that have black players on their roster; southern schools motivated primarily by financial concerns

1964 – Congress passes the Civil Rights Act.

1966 – Texas Western University defeats Kentucky in NCAA basketball championship game; Texas Western started five black players against Adolph Rupp’s all-white Kentucky team; this was the first time an all-black starting five played an all-white starting five in a championship game

1960s/70s – Southern schools begin aggressively recruiting black athletes; the motives were mixed; southern schools believe they were at a competitive disadvantage without black players

1960s/70s – As the civil rights movement incorporates gender equity issues, women’s athletics and educational groups begin to discuss the possibility of broad-based national standards for the conduct of women’s intercollegiate sports; the NCAA is male-only and until the late 1960s has expressed little interest in incorporating women’s athletics

1968 – NCAA creates its first divisional structure: “University” and “College” divisions.

1970s – Big-time football schools begin to see NCAA’s monopoly over televised football games as a restriction on their economic and publicity interests; expansion of cable technology opens new television markets for college sports

1971 – The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) is officially created; AIAW welcomes increased access to intercollegiate athletics opportunities and joins with the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL) to lobby in favor of Title IX.

1972 – Title IX enacted by Congress; set to be phased in with first compliance year in 1978; NCAA aggressively lobbies against its application to intercollegiate athletics; AIAW’s student-based, non-professionalized philosophy comes under fire immediately; AIAW initially does not provide athletic scholarships; under pressure from other women’s organizations, AIAW votes to permit athletics scholarships; NCAA and powerful football interests begin a campaign to be exempt from Title IX requirements.

1972 – Freshmen are eligible to play on varsity rosters in football and men’s basketball.

1973 – NCAA adopts a new divisional structure: Divisions I, II, and III; big-time football interests prominent in NCAA regulatory structure.

1974 – The NCAA intensifies its coordinated effort to oppose Title IX; Texas Republican senator John Tower offers an NCAA-friendly amendment to Title IX which would exclude all intercollegiate athletics from Title IX jurisdiction; the Tower Amendment fails; New York Democrat senator Jacob Javits offers another NCAA-friendly amendment that if athletics departments did not use federal funding (even if their institutions did), then Title IX would not apply to athletics generally, or to a particular sport (big-time men’s football and basketball

1974 – NC State beats UCLA in national championship semi-final game that marks the beginning of the end of the UCLA dynasty in college basketball; Maryland, one of the top teams in the country, fails to make NCAA tournament after losing classic ACC championship game in overtime to NC State; NCAA only accepts conference champions.

1975 – NCAA expands men’s basketball tournament field from twenty-five to thirty-two; includes first-ever “at-large” invitations (schools that did not win their conference championship); tournament field would rapidly expand over the next ten years; expansion driven by increasing popularity and economic value of college basketball and proliferation of cable TV outlets.

1976 – NCAA eliminates “laundry money” stipend as cost-cutting measure; now deems modest expense stipends as impermissible “pay for play.”

1976 – NCAA ends ban on dunking (the “Lew Alcindor Rule”); enhances entertainment value.

1976 – Women’s basketball becomes an official Olympic sport.

1977 – Major football schools from the SEC, ACC, SWC, Big Eight, WAC—plus Notre Dame, Penn State, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and the service academies as independents—band together to form the College Football Association (CFA); purpose of CFA is to pursue economic interests of big-time football; Big Ten and Pac-10 do not join the CFA; tension between the CFA and NCAA over the rights to contract for the broadcast of college football games intensifies

1977 – Dallas office of the IRS investigates Texas universities’ football and men’s basketball revenues; IRS threatens to tax these revenue streams as “unrelated business income” to the schools’ claimed educational non-profit mission; Texas congressmen and the NCAA mobilize their lobbyists and big-time college sports political partners across the nation to shut down investigation; IRS national office convinces Dallas office to stand down.

1977 - 1979 – Nike begins paying individual college basketball coaches nominal sums ($10 – $15 thousand) to have their teams wear Nike shoes and apparel.

1978 – The CFA threatens to leave the NCAA if its economic interests are not protected and separated from rest of the membership; in response, NCAA further subdivides Division I football into I-A and I-AA; Division I-A would later be known as the Football Bowl Series (FBS) division comprised of the ten biggest football conferences; division I-AA would come to be known as the Football Championship Series (FCS) made up of the remaining Division I conferences and teams that field football teams.

1978 – NCAA first uses “Final Four” in NCAA tournament program and later obtains trademark rights.

1979 – NCAA further expands men’s basketball tournament field to forty teams.

1979 – Michigan State and Indiana State meet in NCAA men’s basketball final featuring Magic Johnson and Larry Bird; game attracts one of the largest television audiences in the history of televised sports in America and provides a window into the commercial possibilities of big-time college basketball.

1979 – Bill and Scott Rasmussen launch the first-ever sports-oriented cable network— Entertainment and Sports Programming Network—commonly known as “ESPN”.

1979 – Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare promulgates final policy determination under Title IX; schools given three ways to presumptively comply with gender equity requirements, including scholarship proportionality; U.S. Supreme Court rules in Cannon v. University of Chicago that individuals have the right to sue under Title IX.

1980 – NCAA expands men’s basketball tournament field to forty-eight teams; CBS airs first NCAA “Selection Sunday” show following “60 Minutes.”

1981 – First NCAA women’s championships played; these championships are offered as a competing product to the AIAW’s championships; by the late 1970s, the AIAW governed approximately 75,000 female athletes at over 800 colleges and universities and offered 17 national championships; the NCAA quickly overpowers AIAW schools with incentives such as free trips to championship venues, free memberships for women’s programs if the men’s program was already an NCAA member

1981 – CFA sues NCAA in district court in Oklahoma in what would become landmark US Supreme Court decision NCAA v Board of Regents; name plaintiffs are the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents and the University of Georgia Athletic Association

1982 – AIAW disbands.

1983 – Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds—in a 2-1 vote— district court’s Board of Regents ruling that NCAA contract violates federal antitrust laws

1983 – NCAA expands men’s basketball tournament field to fifty-two teams.

1984 – US Supreme Court issues its opinion in NCAA v Board of Regents; in a 7-2 opinion, court upholds lower court rulings and finds that the NCAA’s contract violates federal antitrust laws; Board of Regents is perhaps the most consequential historical event in defining the business interests of modern college athletics.

1984 – NCAA aggressively markets and brands NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament; after Board of Regents, NCAA’s primary source of revenue is Division I men’s basketball tournament; NCAA seeks to acquire and protect basketball-related intellectual property; all tournament revenue goes to NCAA; nearly entire NCAA budget funded by men’s basketball tournament revenue.

1984 – ABC purchases controlling interest in ESPN.

1985 – NCAA expands men’s basketball tournament field to sixty-four teams; NCAA and media partners push “Cinderella” narratives; tournament doubles in size from 1975.

1985 – 1986 – NCAA adopts a 19’ 9” three-point line and forty-five-second shot clock in men’s basketball to enhance entertainment value; rules are criticized by legendary coaches Dean Smith, Bob Knight, and Mike Krzyzewski.

1986 – ESPN rolls out coverage of Division I men’s basketball conference tournament and championship game programming; ESPN televises conference tournament and championship games as lead-in to CBS “Selection Sunday” show; ESPN later calls the lead-in week “Championship Week.”

1987 – Walter Byers leaves NCAA with ill feelings towards big-time football schools; feels betrayed by some CFA members who privately pledged to support the NCAA’s football television plan.

1988 – US Supreme Court issues opinion in Tarkanian v NCAA; suit by former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian claiming that the NCAA violated his federal due process rights in investigation into UNLV basketball program; US Supreme Court rules against Tarkanian; in a 5-4 decision, it holds the NCAA is not a “state actor” for purposes of federal constitutional standards

1989 – Knight Foundation creates the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics to study reform of big-time college sports; Commission led by former UNC President William Friday and Notre Dame President Theodore Hesburgh; Commission a “who’s who” of major sports and cultural figures.

1990 – CFA begins to fracture when Penn State exits the association to join the Big 10.

1990s – First wave of football-driven conference realignments begins as conferences, not the CFA, become the primary power brokers in commercializing big-time football.

1991 – Notre Dame leaves the CFA to pursue its own TV deals, further weakening CFA.

1991 – The first Knight Commission Report issued; titled Keeping Faith with the Student-Athlete: A New Model for Intercollegiate Athletics; explicitly channels the 1929 Carnegie Report’s elitism and hostility towards commercialized college athletics; Commission recommends institutional control through presidential responsibility for college athletics

1992 – First SEC football championship game; with twelve teams in the conference, NCAA rules permit two conference divisions; two divisions allowed to compete for the overall conference championship in a final conference game between the winner of each division; huge commercial success; SEC makes more money off this one game than in its entire season package with the CFA; drives acceleration of conference realignment as some conferences seek to expand to at least twelve teams.

1994 – Congress passes the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA), requiring federally assisted, coeducational institutions of higher education to disclose information about the gender breakdown of their intercollegiate athletic programs; the requisite annual reports from these institutions allow for better monitoring of Title IX compliance; EADA requires financial information on athletics spending by gender and becomes a primary source for evaluating overall athletics spending

1994 – NCAA enters into first mega-contract with CBS for the broadcast of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament (extension of 1988 contract) now known as “March Madness” (which the NCAA trademarked after litigation with the Illinois State Athletic Association); contract covers eight years (1993 – 2002) for a total payout of $1.725 billion dollars

1995 – Walter Byers publishes Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes; Byers was NCAA’s first CEO and served from 1951-1987, the longest tenure of any NCAA chief executive; Byers dismantles NCAA core principles

1995 – SEC leaves CFA; death knell for CFA.

1996 – Office of Civil Rights issues the “Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance: The Three-Part Test,” explaining in detail how schools can comply with each prong of the three-part “effective accommodation test” first set forth in the 1979 Policy Interpretation; U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upholds the lawfulness of the three-part test in Cohen v. Brown University; presumptive compliance may be achieved if the percentage of scholarships awarded to women approximates the percentage of women at the university; critics contend this amounts to a quota system.

1996 – The Walt Disney Company purchases ABC; ABC’s holdings include ESPN; Disney now owns an 80 percent interest in ESPN

1997 – In response to threats from powerful conferences to leave the association, NCAA reformulates its revenue distribution formula to give more money to big-time conferences; NCAA Division I also does away with a one-school, one-vote governance model and replaces it with a federated system top-heavy with university presidents from power conference schools

1997 – CFA officially disbands.

1997 – Senate holds hearings on antitrust implications of BCS; Senators question the fairness of powerful football conferences’ dominance of NCAA governance

1998 – Bowl Championship Series (BCS) begins; BCS is a system of major bowl games with big-time conference tie-ins used to determine a national champion in football; champion determined by voting; imperfect method of determining champion; ultimately replaced with a four-team football playoff in 2012.

1998 – 10th Circuit Court of appeals issues opinion in Law v NCAA; plaintiffs are assistant basketball coaches who are subject to an NCAA salary cap of $16,000 per year; known as “restricted earnings coaches”; court strikes down compensation limits as violation of federal antitrust laws

1999 – NCAA extends 1994 March Madness TV deal with CBS; new deal covers an eleven-year period (2003 – 2013) at a total contract price of $6

1999 – NCAA v Smith; US Supreme Court holds Title IX does not apply to NCAA because it doesn’t receive federal education money

2000s – Conference realignment accelerates; motivation is the consolidation of major football schools to enhance market share for the acquisition of favorable media-rights broadcast contracts

2001 – After disbanding in the mid-1990s, the Knight Commission reconvenes and issues a report that concedes the ineffectiveness of the presidential reform era; Commission nevertheless doubles down on presidential control.

2003 – Reform groups propose reducing commercialization and focusing on big-time football’s monopoly through the Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

2003 – Senate hearings on antitrust re BCS

2003 – Myles Brand, former president of Indiana University, is named NCAA chief executive; Brand is the first university president to hold the top NCAA office.

2003 – Brand sets out two issues for emphasis: increasing costs of college sports and low graduation rates.

2003-2004 – In response to pressure from reform groups (and Congress) to address the growing commercialization of big-time sports, Brand and NCAA executive Wally Renfro devise the “collegiate model”

2005 – On the eve of the NCAA’s centennial, Brand creates the NCAA Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics; the task force is composed of fifty-one members and is billed as among the most significant NCAA task forces/committees in NCAA history.

2005 – ESPN’s Championship Week programming expands to include ninety-nine men’s and women’s basketball games; it televises twenty-six of thirty-one games that determine bids to NCAA tournaments; Championship Week effectively extends March Madness to a month-long basketball sporting event.

2005 – NCAA internally deliberates on Electronic Arts NCAA video games deal and possible recognition that athletes should be compensated for the use of their NIL in the video games.

2006 – Brand announces “collegiate model” in January “State of the Association” speech; financial model mandates maximum financial revenues from FB and MBB; in October speech to Natl. Press Club, Brand responds to congressional inquiries re tax-exempt status of FB/MBB products

2006 – Presidential Task Force releases its findings; institutional accountability is a key theme; uses presidential responsibility model; focus on financial accountability; also calls for race and gender diversity in college sports hiring

2006 – White v NCAA class-action suit initiated in federal court in California; first in a series of athletes’ rights antitrust lawsuits; plaintiffs are Division I football and basketball players; plaintiffs claim that NCAA limits on athletic scholarships set below the full cost of attendance (COA) constitute an unlawful restraint on trade in violation of federal antitrust laws

2007 – Big Ten launches its own sports network in partnership with Fox Corporation and Fox Sports

2008 – NCAA settles White litigation; continues to insist that COA above existing scholarship violates NCAA amateurism rules.

2008 - 2009 – Big 12 1996 syndication relationship with ESPN converted to Big-12 Network for branding purposes; limited content and regional coverage; in 2014, Big 12 Network ceases operations and much Big-12 content reverts to ESPN

2009 – Myles Brand dies.

2009 – O’Bannon v NCAA filed in federal court in California; a group of current and former Division I athletes claims that NCAA unlawfully appropriated their name, image, and likeness in the sale of licensing rights to a sports video game producer

2010 – Mark Emmert hired to replace Brand

2010 – NCAA again extends its March Madness contract; contract now includes Turner Broadcasting after CBS considers either selling the remaining three years on the 1999 contract to ESPN or partnering with ESPN

2010 – Knight Commission releases its’ fifth report, focusing on the financial sustainability of big-time sports

2011 – NCAA expands men’s basketball tournament field to sixty-eight; there are more “at-large” bids offered than automatic bids (winner of conference).

2012 – Conference realignments substantially complete; five super conferences—ACC, Big Ten, Big-12, Pac-12, and SEC— emerge; become known as the “Power 5”; total of sixty-five schools; five other conferences that are in the same FBS division—American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Sun Belt Conference—become known as the “Group of 5”; Power 5 schools include thirty-four of the nation’s flagship state universities.

2012 – Power 5 and Group of 5 form College Football Playoff (CFP)

2012 – Pac-12 Conference launches its own network; Pac-12 owns 100 percent of network and does not partner with sports media outlet

2013 – O’Bannon accelerates; discovery complete; trial set.

2013 – Power 5 threaten to leave the NCAA if they don’t get special treatment in the NCAA legislative process through “Autonomy”

2014 – Northwestern University football players, led by quarterback Kain Coulter, file action to form a players’ union under federal labor laws

2014 (June 9 – 27) – O’Bannon trial before Judge Claudia Wilken (bench trial, no jury) in federal court in California.

2014 – (June) NCAA hires Brownstein Hyatt as lobbyists and Bully Pulpit Interactive as public relations experts

2014 – (July 9th) Senate hearing in Commerce; Emmert lays the foundation for Autonomy legislation that would grant the Power 5 conferences their own legislative classification independent of the rest of the NCAA

2014 (August 6) – NCAA Board of Directors votes 16-2 to approve the creation of the Autonomy governance classification for Power 5 schools; Power 5 granted authority to make its own rules in certain defined areas without going through the standard legislative process; this essentially makes the Power 5 an association within an association; Power 5 acquire even greater competitive advantage in recruiting.

2014 (August 8) – Judge Wilken issues her ruling in O’Bannon; finds that NCAA compensation limits are subject to federal antitrust laws; finds that NCAA violated antitrust laws; allows name, image, likeness trust funds for athletes; athletes may receive up to $5,000 per year to be accessible once athlete graduates or eligibility expires; also finds that scholarship cap below full COA violates antitrust laws; injunction order to go into effect one year later on August 1, 2015; both sides appeal to Ninth Circuit; ruling is historic as it is the first case in which the NCAA’s limits on athletes’ compensation are found to be subject to antitrust scrutiny.

2014 – SEC launches its own sports network; network is 100 percent owned by ESPN

2014 – Berger suit filed in federal court arguing that athletes are employees under FLSA

2014 – New round of class action antitrust cases filed on behalf of athletes and consolidated in federal court in California into the Alston litigation

2015 (January) – NCAA, through Power 5 conferences, “voluntarily” permits full COA scholarships

2015 – First CFP playoff games are held; Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State receive berths; Ohio State defeats Oregon for the national championship.

2015 – 9th Circuit issues opinion in O’Bannon; court reverses name, image, likeness trust fund remedy on grounds that it is inconsistent with principles of amateurism; court says that payments to athletes “untethered” to education would result in an open market for athlete services; analysis uses amateurism as a free-floating value independent of antitrust analysis

2015 – Two former UNC students file suit in federal court in North Carolina against the NCAA and UNC, claiming they were steered to fraudulent courses while students; the case is McCants v NCAA; the suit alleges, in part, that NCAA breached its fiduciary duty to athletes to prevent the academic fraud; NCAA denies that it owes any duty to student-athletes, fiduciary or otherwise; district court dismisses claims against NCAA. finding the NCAA owed the athletes no legal duty

2015 – NCAA quietly launches NIL waiver process

2016 – US Supreme Court declines to hear O’Bannon appeals.

2016 – NCAA yet again extends March Madness contract; new extension adds eight years, through 2032; one of the longest sports contract terms in history (thirty-eight years); contract price over eight-year period is $8.8 billion

2016 – NCAA adopts The Presidential Pledge; NCAA stakeholders pledge and commit to promoting “diversity and gender equity in intercollegiate athletics.” The pledge specifically asks community stakeholders to “…commit to establishing initiatives for achieving ethnic and racial diversity, gender equity and inclusion, with a focus and emphasis on hiring practices in intercollegiate athletics, to reflect the diversity of our membership and our nation.”; pledge is voluntary; no sanctions for noncompliance; Dr. Richard Lapchick, renowned civil rights advocate in college sports (see entry for December 2019 below), says in his annual race and gender report card relative to big-time conferences and schools: “The pledge has clearly had a limited effect

2016 – NCAA Board of Governors extends Mark Emmert’s multi-million-dollar contract for five more years, through 2021.

2016 – Berger 7th Circuit decision issued; says athletes, as a matter of law, are not employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act; creates an amateurism-based immunity; court relies on prison labor case and the 13th amendment’s exception to involuntary servitude for “duly convicted” prisoners

2017 – NCAA settles damages component of Alston antitrust suit for $208 million; $42 million earmarked for opposing side’s attorneys’ fees; settlement and attorneys’ fees paid exclusively with revenue generated by Division I men’s basketball players.

2017 (September 26) – US Attorney for the Southern District of New York announces basketball-related indictments alleging bribery and wire fraud in a scheme to steer high-value players to certain schools and sports agents; US Attorney holds a national press conference to announce charges; several well-known assistant coaches arrested; all assistant coaches are black.

2017 (October 11) – NCAA announces formation of the Commission on College Basketball (CCB) chaired by Condoleezza Rice; NCAA characterizes CCB as an “independent” commission, but all members are selected by NCAA; CCB is charged to make “transformative” recommendations within five months.

2018 (April) – CCB releases its report

2018 - 2019 – NCAA monitors criminal cases in New York; in a 2/24/2018 interview with CBS Sports (CBS owns rights to televise March Madness), Emmert suggests that NCAA has working relationship with DOJ; NCAA files motion to intervene in Gatto case to access the information Emmert referred to in the CBS interview including sensitive, disparaging, and unreliable information and documents that had been sealed by the court and ruled inadmissible; court denies NCAA’s motion to intervene

2018 – NCAA Board of Governors extends Emmert’s contract again; term is through 2024

2018 (September 4 – September 25) – Alston trial before judge Wilken; bench trial, no jury.

2018 – US Supreme Court strikes down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in NCAA v Murphy; sports betting left to state regulation

2018 – soon after the Murphy decision, the NCAA enters into a ten-year contract with Genius Sports—a sports betting data collection company; terms not disclosed

For a more detailed timeline relevant to the Power 5’s and NCAA’s campaign in Congress, see the Congress Tab in the Explore menu.

2019 – Johnson v NCAA filed in federal court claiming athlete hourly wage benefits under the Fair Labor Standards Act

2019 (March 8) – Judge Wilken issues opinion in Alston; finds that NCAA’s limits on education-related benefits violate federal antitrust laws; Judge Wilken issues an injunction that prohibits NCAA from limiting education-related benefits; injunction order shifts authority to the conferences to regulate these benefits

2019 (January) – Mark Emmert delivers annual “State of the Association” speech; uses iconic imagery to associate NCAA with civil rights milestones (Note: NCAA logo subtly incorporated into images). Emmert says, in part, “…the NCAA’s leadership has consistently demonstrated the value of inclusion to our nation.”

2019 (March) – NCAA announces that it is appealing the district court’s Alston ruling to the 9th Circuit; in its brief press release, the NCAA states that it is seeking a ruling that establishes the NCAA as the only authority that can regulate college athletics; statement closes by saying: “The NCAA and conference defendants unanimously agree to appeal the District Court’s decision.”

2019 (March 7th) – Mark Walker (R-NC) introduces a bill in the House that strip NCAA of nonprofit status unless it provides NIL benefits

2019 – (February 4th) - CA state Senators Nancy Skinner and Steve Bradford introduce SB 206, a name, image, and likeness law that would allow athletes in California to receive NIL compensation despite NCAA prohibitions

2019 (May) – NCAA announces the formation of the NCAA Board of Governors Federal and State Working Group; working group tasked with exploring whether it is feasible for NCAA to adopt a name, image, and likeness (NIL) policy that would permit athletes to be compensated for their NIL; working group made clear that any such NIL policy must be consistent with the “collegiate model”, must not permit athletes to make money from their athletic skill, performance, or notoriety, and must not convert athletes into employees.

2019 (June) – NCAA threatens commerce clause litigation against CA over SB 206

2019 (June 4th) – Kevin Warren replaces Jim Delaney as Big Ten commissioner; Warren NFL background; no connection to higher education

2019 (August) – ACC launches the ACC Network (ACCN); ACCN is 100 percent owned by ESPN; schools do not have to incur production costs; ACC and ESPN have pre-existing long-term contract for sports content on ESPN; ACC schools required to up-fit technological capabilities of athletics facilities to ESPN’s specifications; value of contract(s) not made public; in FY 2010, conference revenue is $167 million; in FY 2018, conference revenue is $464 million; conference commissioner’s salary in 2010 is $1.46 million; commissioner’s 2018 salary is $3.5 million.

2019 (September)– California State Assembly passes SB 206, titled “Collegiate Athletics: Student-Athlete Compensation and Representation.”; vote is unanimous; bill allows college athletes in California to make money from their NIL with few restrictions; bill would not go into effect until 2023; bill explicitly mentions NCAA working group and suggests that lawmakers are willing to work with the NCAA; NCAA threatens litigation in response.

2019 (September 30) – California Governor Gavin Newsome signs SB 206 into law; NCAA retreats on litigation threats

2019 (October 23) – NCAA Working Group releases “interim report” on NIL; “guardrails; must comply with “collegiate model”

2019 (October 29) - NCAA issues press release) from Board of Governors saying it is looking into NIL issues and proclaims a desire to “modernize” NCAA rules; mainstream media hail NCAA press release as promise of NIL

2019 (November 16) – NCAA BOG Executive Committee directs the formation of a working group subcommittee to report to the NCAA President and the BOG president “on potential assistance that the Association should seek from Congress to support any efforts to modernize the rules in NCAA sports, while maintaining the latitude that the Association needs to further its mission to oversee and promote intercollegiate athletics on national scale.” The subcommittee is ultimately created under the name “Presidential Subcommittee on Congressional Action” NCAA does not announce the existence of the PSCA until the working group’s Final Report in April 2020

2019 (December 6th) - The NCAA issues on its website “NCAA statement on Senate working group.” The statement reads “The NCAA, its members schools and conferences are committed to enhancing our rules while providing the best educational and athletic experience for our student-athletes. We know that continuing our modernization of rules will require some level of federal assistance, and we look forward to working with federal legislators as we drive improvements for the next decade.”

2019 (December 10th) – secret meeting of P5 commissioners and univ. presidents on congressional strategy; 15 attendees; all men; 12 white; group expresses concern with Mark Emmert’s leadership and NCAA taking lead on congressional engagement

2019 (December 16th) - The PSCA begins its work. Between 12/16/19 and 4/17/20 (the date the Final Report is complete), the PSCA conducts “seven meetings and teleconferences” and “received reports from NCAA legal and legislative affairs staff regarding potential legal impediments faced by the Association as it considers NIL modernization, as well as the effect those impediments may have on the Association’s ability to adopt and enforce its bylaws more generally.”

2019 (December) — The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) issues its annual Race and Gender Report Card; the first sentence of the first paragraph in the Report says “White men still dominate the positions of leadership in college sports”; combined grade of a D for race and gender on the Racial and Gender Report Card (RGRC). “This is, by far, the lowest overall grade in all the 2019 Racial and Gender Report Card”; “A student at any of these institutions of higher education would either be expelled or put on academic probation with these marks.” 88.5 percent of chancellors and presidents were white, 80.8 percent of athletic directors were white, 83.6 percent of faculty athletic representatives were white, and 80 percent of conference commissioners were white. Additionally, 77.7 percent of chancellors and presidents, 76.2 percent of athletic directors, 52.9 percent of faculty athletic representatives and 70 percent of conference commissioners were white men.”

2020 (February 11th) –First hearing before Senate Commerce Committee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection; “we need your help”; NCAA dominated witness list; subcommittee chaired by Jerry Moran (R-KS)

2020 – all P5 conferences hire their own lobbying firms

2020 (February 19th) – In response to the 9th Circuit’s unexpected request for briefing on California’s Fair Pay to Play Act in the Alston appeal, the NCAA files its brief in which it flatly denies that it has committed to, or intends to commit to, meaningful NIL rules changes or benefits

2020 (March 9th) – 9th Circuit hears oral argument in Alston

2020 (March) – COVID lockdowns begin

2020 (March 12th) – NCAA cancels NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament

2020 (April 17th) - The working group completes its Final Report; in its Executive Summary, the working group says; “Finally, the working group is mindful of the COVID-19 pandemic as it delivers this report, and the impact the pandemic is having on higher education and college sports. The effects of the pandemic have caused enormous disruption to many, including student-athletes. Although the ultimate impact of the pandemic remains uncertain, this uncertainty must not hinder the efforts to modernize NIL rules intended to benefit student-athletes.”

2020 (May 18th) – 9th Circuit issues Alston decision; affirms district court; Milan Smith concurring questions market analysis

2020 (May 23rd) – P5 conference commissioners (Swofford, Bowlsby, Sankey, Warren, Scott) send letter to both chambers of Congress asking for immediate bill on NIL

2020 (June 12th) – FL legislature enacts NIL law; goes into effect on July 1st, 2021

2020 (mid-June) - ULC votes to go ahead with NIL model legislation; Perlman objects; Lead1/Cunningham/White articulate “displacement” theory

2020 (June 15th) – House v NCAA filed in CA; NIL case

2020 (June 18th) – FL Senator Marco Rubio introduces Fairness in Collegiate Athletics Act that is naked NCAA/P5 power grab; short bill gives NCAA antitrust immunity, preemption, no employees; NCAA lauds bill on its website; bill would nullify Florida NIL law

2020 (July 1st) – Senate hearings in Commerce Committee (“Exploring a Compensation Framework for Intercollegiate Athletics”); NCAA-friendly; Sankey testified; pointed to FL bill; urgency on preemption b/c state laws set to go into effect July 2021; NCAA and P5 present their own bills; bills are discussed but not made public; SI publishes partial copy of NCAA bill

2020 (July 22nd) – hearing in Senate Judiciary Committee (“Protecting the Integrity of College Athletics”); NCAA-friendly; want to focus on NIL only; Booker/Blumenthal ask for broader bill

2020 (August 11th) – decisions over fall football for P5; rest of NCAA shut down; Emmert says has no authority over FBS post-season; Big Ten/Pac-12 hold off; SEC/ACC/Big 12 go forward

2020 (August 20th) – NCAA BOG places itself on administrative leave b/c of uncertainty in college sports regulatory environment

2020 (August) – players in Pac-12 form All Players United to voice COVID-related concerns

2020 (September 15th) – hearing in Senate HELP Committee (“Compensating College Athletes: Examining the Potential Impact on Athletes and Institutions”); Lamar Alexander (R-TN) diatribe against NIL and any payment; Rebecca Blank collegiate model

2020 (September 16th) – Big Ten and Pac-12 reverse course and go forward with fall football

2020 (September 20th) – Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH) and Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) introduce” the “Student-Athlete” Level Playing Field Act”; bill lauded by NCAA

2020 (October 15th) – NCAA appeals Alston to US Supreme Court; switches argument to outright antitrust immunity

2020 (November) – DI Council finalizes NCAA voluntary rulemaking on NIL and transfers

2020 (November 3rd) – general election; Senate hangs in balance with GA special elections

2020 (December 10th) – Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduces “Collegiate Athlete and Compensation Rights Act”; amateurism-based; would end athletes’ rights movement

2020 (December 14th) – Jim Phillips replaces John Swofford as ACC commissioner

2020 (December 16th) – US Supreme Court accepts Alston appeal

2020 (December 17th) – Senators Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduce “Athletes Bill of Rights”’ broad-based bill

2021 (January 5th) – GA special elections flip Senate to Democrats

2021 (January 8th, 9th) – NCAA abruptly suspends its voluntary rulemaking on NIL citing “pressure” from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and its Director, Makan Delharim; Delharim would later challenge NCAA’s characterization

2021 (January 11th) – NCAA announces it is indefinitely suspending voluntary rulemaking on NIL/transfers; DI Council rules tabled; NCAA stands by Justice Dept. excuse

2021 (February 4th) – Rep Lori Trahan (D-MA and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduce companion bills titled “College Athlete Economic Freedom Act” granting NIL rights; bills include preemption provision limited to NIL

2021 (February 24th) – Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) introduces the “Amateur Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2021”; lauded in media as “middle of the road” compromise; bill would end athletes’’ rights movement

2021 (March 18th) – Oregon women’s basketball player Sedona Prince posts Instagram photos of NCAA tournament facilities disparities b/t men’s and women’s venues

2021 (March 25th) – NCAA hires Kaplan firm to evaluate gender issues re basketball tournaments

2021 (March 31st) – Supreme Court holds oral argument in Alston

2021 (April 21st) – NCAA BOG extends Emmert’s contract to 2025; announces the departure of Donald Remi to Biden admin; BOG refuses to explain to media basis for decision extending Emmert’s contract

2021 (April 27th) – Gonzalez/Cleaver rerelease Level Playing Field Act

2021 (May 25th) – Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) introduces “Modernizing the Collegiate Athlete Experience Act”; effectively the House version of the Moran bill

2021 (May 27th) – Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduce the “College Athletes Right to Organize Act”; NCAA immediately condemns on its website

2021 (June 9th) – Senate Commerce Committee holds hearings titled “NCAA Athlete NIL Rights” as last-ditch attempt to receive preemption on eve of state NIL laws going into effect; broad agreement on preemption; Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) openly questions Mark Emmert’s leadership and fitness to continue as NCAA President

2021 (June 17th) – Senate Commerce Committee hold on-the-fly hearing “NCAA Student Athletes and NIL Rights”; African American athletes (female) offer forceful testimony on inequities in college sports; Roger Wicker leads Republican boycott b/c he felt the hearing was sprung on the Committee by chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA); Jerry Moran only Republican to attend

2021 (June 21st) – US Supreme Court issues unanimous ruling in Alston questioning the NCAA’s use of amateurism-based compensation limits; narrow ruling b/c athletes abandoned main claim on appeal. Cannot cap education related benefits. Didn’t speak to other compensation limits but said all must survive ROR (concurrence ripped into compensation limits)

2021 (June 30th) – NCAA announces its “Interim NIL Policy”; prohibits pay-for-play and recruiting inducements; “interim” until either (1) NCAA makes NIL rules changes; or (2) Congress provides protective legislation; suspends regulatory enforcement of NIL; institutions must adopt their own specific policies consistent with the NCAA Interim Policy

2021 (July 1st) – six state NIL laws—including FL—go into effect

2021 (July 1st) – Pac-12 hires George Klaivkoff to replace Larry Scott as Pac-12 commissioner; Klaivkoff came from MGM Resorts; has no experience in higher education

2021 (July 21st) – Texas and Oklahoma announce their intentions to leave the Big 12 for the SEC

2021 (July 29th) – Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby sends cease and desist letter to ESPN alleging that ESPN tortiously interfered with the Big 12 conference contracts in collusion with the SEC

2021 (July 30th) – NCAA BOG member Robert Gates announces the formation of the NCAA Constitution Committee tasked to fundamentally overhaul NCAA governance; Gates says NCAA In a battle for “relevance”; new Constitution to be in place by January 2022

2021 (August 3rd) – NCAA releases Kaplan Report

2021 (August 10th) – NCAA announces roster of Const. Comm. Members; all NCAA insiders; only three athletes, one from each Division

2021 (August 11th) – NCAA releases Baylor decision; no action

2021 (September 29th) – NLRB attorney Jennifer Abruzzo releases policy determination that college athletes have been misclassified as non-employees through the use of the term “student-athlete”

2021 (September 30) – House Commerce hearings; Baylor University President and NCAA BOG/D-I BOD member Linda Livingstone and Mark Emmert testify; Livingstone invokes interests of “Olympic” and women’s sports athletes; portrays them as victims if revenue athletes are paid

2021 (October 28th) – NCAA DI BOD announces the formation of the DI BOD’s Transformation Committee tasked to implement DI changes consistent with, and in anticipation of, new constitution; Greg Sankey is co-chair with Julie Cromer; roster is NCAA insiders; majority P5 members

2021 (November 2nd) – Rep David Kustoff (R-TN) introduces NCAA Accountability Act of 2021; bill requires due process in NCAA infractions/enforcement and govt oversight

2021 (November 8, December 7, December 14) – Const. Comm. Releases drafts of new Const.; largely cut and paste; sends regulatory auth. to Divisions including infractions/enforcement; P5 now control NCAA; completion of Autonomy goals from 2014; NCAA Pres very limited; role of university presidents/chancellors minimized

2021 (November 12th) – Michael Hsu/CBPA file misclassification charge with NLRB

2021 (December 28th) – district court judge in Johnson certifies interlocutory appeal to 3rd Circuit on question of whether athletes can be employees under the FLSA

2022 (January 20th) – new NCAA Const. ratified

2022 (February 3rd) – State of Alabama repeals its NIL law b/c it placed schools in AL in competitive disadvantage with states that had no NIL law

2022 (February 8th) – NCPA files misclassification charge with NLRB

2022 (February 24th) – CA Senator Steve Bradford introduces revenue-sharing bill; works with Huma

2022 (March 6th) – Mid-American Conference announces data deal with Genius Sports; Genuis acquires data for resale to sportsbooks and casinos

2022 (March 22nd) – NCPA files complaint with Office of Civil Rights alleging race discrimination

2022 (March 29th) – Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduce the Senate version of the NCAA Accountability Act targeting NCAA infractions and enforcement

2022 (April 26th) – NCAA president Mark Emmert announces his resignation

2022 (April 27th) – NCAA approves MAC sports betting deal

2022 (May 5th) – Klaivkoff and Sankey meet with Maria Cantwell and Marsha Blackburn on protective federal legislation; suggest they are waiting for midterms; Blackburn says getting rid of Emmert is step in right direction

2022 (May 19th) – CA Senate deep-sixes Bradford revenue-sharing bill; gender equity prime concern; Cory Booker announces at Drake Group symposium that revenue-sharing component of Athletes’ Bill of Rights will be removed

2022 (June 29th) – Big 12 hires Brett Yormark to replace Bob Bowlsby as Commissioner; Yormark came from Roc Nation and has no experience in higher education; sports-entertainment search firm used

2022 (June 30th) – UCLA and USC announce they are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten

2022 (August 1st) - New NCAA BOG announces that Baylor University President (also a member of old BOG and current member of Division I BOD) will serve as BOG Chair

2022 (August 2nd) – New NCAA Board of Governors takes first formal actions; creates a presidential search committee and a Subcommittee on Congressional Engagement and Action (SCEA); the SCEA has eight members, including SEC commissioner Greg Sankey

2022 (August 3rd) – Sens. Booker and Blumenthal reintroduce “Athletes Bill of Rights”; sponsors remove revenue sharing provisions contained in the original bill

2022 (August 3rd) - Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Joe Manchin (D-WV) announce they are working on a bi-partisan NIL law; they send letter to SEC and other stakeholders asking for feedback on proposed legislation; emphasize the role of collectives

2022 (August 17th) – NCAA quietly announces the elimination of the Independent Accountability Resolution Process; decision recommended by the IARP Accountability Oversight Committee and the Infractions Process Committee; NCAA press release including IARP demise titled “D-I Council reviews transfer proposals”

2022 (August 18th) – Big Ten announces seven-year multi-billion-dollar, multi-network media rights contract; deal pays Big Ten over $1 billion per year; annual payout per year per team estimated at over $70 million

2022 (August 31st) – Power 5 conference commissioners send joint letter to Senators Tuberville and Manchin; under the guise of NIL regulation, commissioners seek preemption, antitrust immunity, and no employee status for athletes

2022 (September 2nd) – CFP announces expansion from 4 teams to 12 teams; new revenues estimated at $500 million; ACC commissioner Jim Phillips praises expansion after opposing it; ACC only 8 months into its 12 month “holistic” review of college sports that was precondition to ACC support for CFP expansion

2022 (September 11th) – Outgoing NCAA President Mark Emmert says in an interview that the Student Athlete Advisory Committee structure does not adequately represent the interests of football, basketball, and minority athletes: “How are you going to make this all work where you've got a strong voice for students? You've got the Student Athlete Advisory Committees—that’s great— and I love our SAC committees, but you need more football representation, you need more basketball representation, you need more minority student representation. It's not as representative as it should be. And getting that done has been a real thorny problem.”; Emmert invokes the narrative that the NCAA had no choice when it abandoned voluntary rulemaking on NIL in January 2021 because the DOJ Antitrust Division had instructed the NCAA stand down due to antitrust concerns over NIL and transfers

2022 (September 14th) – Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) re-releases his “Collegiate Athlete Compensation Rights Act”; bill has preemption, no employee status for athletes and new retroactive antitrust immunity provision; retroactive immunity would, in theory, nullify the House v NCAA federal antitrust action on name, image, and likeness pending in California

2022 (September 28th) - Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduce the “Athlete Opportunity and Taxpayer Integrity Act”; bipartisan bill has narrow focus and would regulate nonprofit NIL collectives through IRS nonprofit tax rules and regulations

2022 (October 3rd) – In an interview, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) states that he will filibuster any legislation that grants athletes employee status

2022 (November 1st) – Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) chosen as president of the University of Florida

2022 (November 8th) – Midterm elections; Republican take House, Democrats retain Senate; dashes P5/NCAA hopes for Republican control of both chambers and an easy pathway to protective federal legislation; Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to assume Ranking Member seat on Commerce Committee from Roger Wicker (R-MS)

2022 (December 13th) – ACC attorney circulates “Privileged and Confidential” memo to conference and institutional stakeholders that lays out Power 5’s new strategy in Congress; memo identifies P5 legislative “must haves” that include preemption, antitrust immunity, and no employee status for athletes; all communications are to run through Jim Phillips, ACC conference commissioner; nothing is to be put in writing - no texts or emails; ACC memo obtained by Andry Wittry through public records requests; story is not picked up in broader media; summary of document(s) set forth below (see Secret Meetings Tab in Explore Menu)

2022 (December 15th) – NLRB regional Director in Los Angeles allows “charge” to go forward against USC, the Pac-12, and the NCAA for violations of NLRA

2022 (December 15th) – NCAA announces that Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker will become the next NCAA President

2023 (January 3rd) – Transformation Committee releases its Final Report; very little “transformation”; recommendations offer only modest enhancement of existing athlete “benefits”; identifies for the first time the “Holistic Student Athlete Model” as a term of art; report and co-chair’s public comments emphasize “student-athlete” input in process; not a single current or recently graduated athlete was on the Committee; Final Report does not align with actual work of Committee; infractions and enforcement was central to Committee’s work, but received limited discussion in Final Report

2023 (January 12th) – Mark Emmert, Linda Livingstone, and Charlie Baker deliver NCAA state of the association speeches at NCAA annual convention; overtly politicized; Livingstone makes direct appeal to stakeholders for support in seeking preemption, antitrust immunity, and no employee status for athletes

2023 (January 12th) – Big Ten conference commissioner Jim Warren announces he is leaving to take a job in the NFL

2023 (January 27th) – NCAA issues a memo titled “Standard of Review for Violations Related to Name, Image, and Likeness Activities”; memo creates a presumption that an institution or individual has violated NCAA rules or the NIL Interim Policy when “available evidence supports the behaviors” alleged; information can be from media articles, hearsay reports, or confidential informants

2023 (February 15th) – Third Circuit hears oral argument in Johnson v NCAA case on question of whether athletes can be employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act; panel appears uncomfortable with NCAA’s amateurism-based justifications for its business model and arguments against employee status

2023 (February 16th) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs HB 7B which substantially amends Florida’s NIL law; bill removes nearly all amateurism-based “guardrail” restrictions and defaults to NCAA Interim Policy; bill makes modest enhancements to NIL education provisions; bill provides legal immunity to institutions/employees for claims arising from information/advice provided to athletes

2023 (March 21st) – House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce announces hearing for March 29th ostensibly on NIL titled “Taking the Buzzer Beater to the Bank: Protecting College Athletes’ NIL Dealmaking Rights”

2023 (March 28th) – NCAA Office of Government Relations issues an “ALERT” memo to all member institutions in advance of House hearing with talking points; coaches institutional stakeholders on how to advocate for the Power 5/NCAA legislative agenda; talking points memo has little to do with NIL and instead emphasize the necessity of obtaining from Congress preemption, antitrust immunity, and no employee status for athletes; “ALERT” materials include contact information for all Subcommittee members and instructions for NCAA schools in the Subcommittee members’ districts to directly lobby their representative(s)

2023 (March 27th, 28th) - Multiple NCAA university presidents, conference commissioners, and athletics directors send letters to Subcommittee parroting the “ALERT” memo talking points; letters virtually identical

2023 (March 28th) ACC athletes send a letter on ACC/SAAC letterhead to the Subcommittee suggesting they are speaking for all 10,000 ACC athletes; ACC letter aligns with the “ALERT” memo and the letters from institutional leaders; ACC letter purports to speak for all 10,000 ACC athletes; one of the five “primary contacts” is Luke Phillips, son of ACC commissioner Jim Phillips; no disclosure of the relationship in letter or at hearing; of ACC athletes identified, Luke Phillips is only ACC athlete involved in 9/23/2021 and 3/28/2023 letters

2023 (March 29th) – Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee chaired by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) holds hearing; six witnesses testify; five are pro-Power 5/NCAA, only one athlete advocate; Power 5/NCAA-friendly witnesses flood the hearing with talking points aligned with the “ALERT” memo; substance of witness testimony has little to do with NIL; Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) holds up the letter from ACC athletes as the consensus athlete view on what athletes want and the need for protective federal legislation; Duncan makes no reference to the Phillips connection

2023 (April 4th) - Hubbard v NCAA federal class-action antitrust lawsuit filed against NCAA and Power 5 for “back” Alston education benefits; athletes seek damages and injunctive relief; suit filed in Northern District of California before Judge Claudia Wilken, who heard O’Bannon and Alston suits; athletes jointly represented by Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler who teamed up in Alston and House

2023 (April 12th) – Big Ten hires TV and MLB executive Tony Petitti as new commissioner; continues trend of hiring from the entertainment-sports industry rather than higher education

2023 (May 18th) - NLRB Regional Director in Los Angeles issues formal complaint against USC, Pac-12, and NCAA; demands that institutions “cease and desist” from misclassifying athletes as non-employees; complaint alleges that Pac-12 and NCAA are “joint employers” with USC

2023 (May 19th) - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) circulates draft legislation titled the “College Sport NIL Clearinghouse Act of 2023.”; Act would create a “NIL Clearinghouse” for standardized, national framework for oversight of NIL contracts; built around amateurism-based compensation limits; no pay-for-play or recruiting inducements; Clearinghouse to be “establish[ed]” by “[i]nstitutions and conferences”; provides Clearinghouse “limited” antitrust immunity

2023 (May 23rd) - IRS issues policy memo that nonprofit NIL collectives do not further a tax-exempt purpose under 501(c)(3); says “This document may not be used or cited as precedent.”; memo supports NCAA-friendly themes (“...this Office also finds significant the numerous statements by athletics directors, boosters, and others on the importance of NIL collectives, including nonprofit collectives, to the retention and recruitment of student-athletes.”); to set framework for analysis, memo cites to Hearing Memo from March 29th, 2023 House hearing; House memo is partisan advocacy

2023 (May 24th) - Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) circulates a “Discussion Draft” of a bill titled “Fairness, Accountability, and Integrity in Representation of College Sports Act,” or “FAIR College Sports Act.” FAIR would regulate the NIL marketplace through a federal, nonprofit corporation; the Department of Commerce’s Office of the Inspector General would have oversight authority over the federal corporation; the Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and other state entities have enforcement authorities; bill includes NCAA/Power 5-friendly limitations that defer to institutional interests; bill’s preemption provision is not limited to NIL

2023 (May 24th) - Representatives Mike Carey (R-OH) and Greg Landsman (D-OH) introduce the “Student Athlete Level Playing Field Act”; bill is “bipartisan” and is designed to federalize the NIL market; bill is similar to Representative Anthony Gonzalez’s (R-OH) previous proposals by the very same name (see Timeline entries for September 20th, 2020 and April 27th, 2021); regulation runs through a federally-created commission and a clearinghouse under the auspices of the FTC; bill has (1) preemption; (2) antitrust immunity; and (3) athletes can’t be employees

2023 (June 2nd) - NCAA, Pac-12, and USC respond to NLRB complaint; NCAA claims it is “frivolous” and “without foundation in law or fact”; parties raise First Amendment issue saying they are being compelled to speak of athletes as employees rather than “student-athletes”; Pac-12 says that NLRB has no jurisdiction in college sports-related matters and if the NLRB imposes employee status on institutions, Congress will need to step in to explicitly exclude athletes from the coverage of the NLRA

2023 (June 8th, 9th) - Power 5 and NCAA leaders descend on Congress; key leaders meet with Congress members to lobby for protective federal legislation; University of Arizona hosts “panel discussions” in D.C. on June 8th designed to complement lobbying campaign; panels are loaded with Power 5/NCAA insiders including SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, NCAA President Charlie Baker, Power 5 presidents and chancellors, Power 5 athletics directors, and a Power 5 head football coach; panels moderated by Power 5-friendly sports writers; Baker says protective federal legislation must be in place before the 2024 election cycle; Baker promotes the sports betting market as a potential source of revenue

2023 (June 12th) - NCAA-controlled Divisional Student-Athlete Advisory Committees send letters to Congressional leaders supporting protective federal legislation; Division I SAAC letter has only one signatory and purports to speak for all 192,000 Division I athletes; letter begins with NIL as pretext, but shifts to emphasize NCAA’s no employee campaign; letter also asks for preemption of state laws and a “safe harbor” (antitrust immunity) from litigation threats; letter reads like a legal memo

2023 (June 12th) - NCAA announces its first-ever “College Athlete Day”; in partnership with White House, 52 national championship teams from all three Divisions make trip to White House to celebrate college sports; all teams are from nonrevenue-producing sports; Vice President Kamala Harris presides; NCAA President Charlie Baker attends

2023 (June 12th) - In conjunction with “College Athletes Day,” NCAA honors former U.S. Presidents who played college sports; celebration invokes patriotic themes

2023 (June 16th) - Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) circulate draft bill titled “Protecting Athletes, Schools, and Sports Act of 2023” made public; appears to have been first drafted in April; bill has preemption provision ostensibly limited to NIL; bill does not “...affect the employment status of a student athlete with respect to a conference or an institution of higher education.”; bill includes a “trust fund” for travel expenses for athletes’ families, out of pocket medical expenses until an athlete is 28 years old, scholarship protections, and financial and life skills education; these benefits already exist in one form another across the Power 5; trust fund to be “managed in a manner determined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association”; NCAA has first-line responsibility for regulatory oversight, investigations, reporting to Congress, and imposition of penalties

2023 (July 20th) – Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Jerry Moran (R-KS) release discussion draft bill “College Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2023”; bill draws substantially from Moran’s 2021 bill “Amateur College Athletes Protection and Compensation Act of 2021”; also includes portions of Booker/Blumenthal “College Athletes Bill of Rights” (12/17/2020; rereleased 8/3/22); CAPCA is built around NIL uniformity, not civil rights as was the Athletes Bill of Rights; CAPCA creates federal corporation that could permit NCAA/P5 insiders to control the Board of Directors; bill grants NCAA indirect subpoena power for investigations; “benefits” in bill include several (one-time transfer, out-of-pocket medical expenses, scholarship protection, limited degree completion program, and financial literacy and financial skills program) that already exist for Power 5 schools through Autonomy legislation; bill includes health and safety standards, but penalties for violations are modest; bill contains preemption and provision that its terms cannot create federal or state liability for institutions prior to bill’s enactment; does not address athlete employee status

2023 (July 21st) – Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) releases discussion draft bill that is naked power grab; proposal includes sweeping preemption, antitrust immunity, and non-employee status provision; bill is similar in structure to Sen. Marco Rubio’s bill released June 18th, 2020; Cruz bill appears to envision an athletic association other than the NCAA as national governance body

2023 (July 25th) – Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) release official version of “Protecting, Athletes, Schools, and Sports Act of 2023”; bill essentially eliminates transfer market and includes broad preemption that would nullify/prevent all state laws that relate in any way to athlete compensation/eligibility including revenue sharing laws; bill turns clock back on athletes’ rights to pre-Alston/transfer/NIL status quo; bill wholesale incorporates NCAA infractions/enforcement apparatus as rulemaking and enforcement authority; bill also puts NCAA in charge of medical “trust fund”; NCAA’s role guarantees relevance and perpetuation of NCAA administrative state; NCAA President Charlie Baker applauds the bill

2023 (July 26th) - Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) rerelease “College Athlete Economic Freedom Act”; bill focuses on NIL; facilitates “collective representation” (ex., players’ associations) for athletes but does not confer employee status; requires disclosure of group licensing deals and permission from athletes, but does not explicitly require group license holders to compensate athletes; provides NIL rights and visa status protections for international athletes; includes preemption of state (limited to NIL); FTC would enforce

2023 (July 27th) - the University of Colorado Board of Regents votes unanimously to approve Colorado’s departure from the Pac-12 Conference to join the Big 12 as of the summer of 2024

2023 (September 13th) - Dartmouth College men’s basketball players file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to form a union; Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy Leagues, which does not offer athletics scholarships; as with the Northwestern University football team’s unionization attempt in 2014, Dartmouth athletes must first establish they are employees

2023 (September 18th, 19th) – Power 5 leaders descend on Washington to persuade congress members to pass protective federal legislation

2023 (September 20th) – House Small Business Committee holds hearing titled “Athletes and Innovators: Analyzing NIL’s Impact on Entrepreneurial Collegiate Athletes”; Committee Chair is Roger Williams (R-TX); NCAA/Power 5 witnesses emphasize “predatory agents and bad actors,” the “patchwork” of conflicting state NIL laws, the “Wild West” of NIL activity, “national standard,” “uniformity,”; several Committee members suggest hearing demonstrates a “bipartisan” approach to legislation

2023 (October 17th) - Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing titled “Name, Image, and Likeness and the Future of College Sports”; Judiciary has jurisdiction over antitrust issues and would bless any antitrust immunity for the NCAA and Power 5; hearing marks congressional debut of NCAA President Charlie Baker; seven witness with six advocating NCAA/Power 5 issues and one witness advocating for athlete interests; NCAA/Power 5 witnesses urge preemption, antitrust immunity, and no-employee status for athletes; imbalanced panel suggests “consensus” on these issues; Baker observes that no one knows what’s actually going on in the NIL market

2023 (November 1st) - at the behest of Power 5 conference commissioners, 28 Division I conferences form the lobbying organization “Coalition for the Future of College Athletics” (CFCA) to lobby stakeholders to support NCAA/Power 5-friendly legislation; CFCA’s “Principles” are disguised requests for federal preemption of state laws regulating college sports, antitrust immunity, and non-employment status for athletes

2023 (November 3rd) - in the House v NCAA NIL case, Judge Wilken issues an order granting the athletes’ motion to certify the damages class; this is a crucial ruling that permits the case to go forward on damages; order provides a framework for “Broadcast NIL” (through a group licensing approach), “video NIL,” and “third-party” NIL compensation to several “subclasses” of athletes; payments would be made by conferences, not individual schools which minimizes Title IX implications because the Power 5 do not receive federal education funds and likely would not be responsible under Title IX; total damage estimates exceed $1 billion; under federal antitrust laws, an award of damages is automatically tripled

2023 (December 1st) - female athletes at the University of Oregon file a class-action Title IX lawsuit—Schroeder v NCAA—against the University, claiming multiple violations of Title IX; the suit targets Oregon’s NIL collective, its connection to the University, and unequal NIL payments

2023 (December 5th) - NCAA President releases a letter to Division I committee members suggesting the creation of a new Division for top-tier, “highest resource” schools; these schools could invest at least $30,000 per year (for at least half of the school’s eligible athletes) into an “enhanced educational trust fund” for distribution to athletes consistent with Title IX; the letter also suggests that schools may be able to pay athletes directly for their NIL through group licensing deals (similar in theory to the remedy athletes seek in the House lawsuit); the letter is viewed as a ground-breaking shift in NCAA philosophy and policy on amateurism-based compensation limits

2023 (December 7th) - Carter v NCAA federal class-action antitrust lawsuit filed against NCAA and Power 5 challenging all NCAA amateurism-based compensation limits; suit is identical in purpose to Jenkins (2014 - 2021; consolidated into Alston); athletes seek damages and injunctive relief; suit filed in Northern District of California and assigned to Chief Judge Richard Seeborg rather then Claudia Wilken

2023 (December 7th) - states of Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia file federal class-action antitrust lawsuit in West Virginia against the NCAA seeking to strike down the NCAA’s transfer restrictions and the NCAA’s “Restitution Rule”

2023 - (December 21st) - Atlantic Coast Conference files preemptive lawsuit in NC state court against the University of Florida State Board of Trustees seeking a declaration affirming the enforceability of the ACC’s grant of rights provision that severely penalizes schools who leave the ACC for another conference; ACC also makes breach of contract claims

2023 (December 22nd) - Florida State Board of Trustees files lawsuit in Florida state court against the ACC seeking a declaration that the ACC’s grant of rights provision is unenforceable; FSU makes breach of contract and state antitrust claims

2024 (January 4th) - NCAA announces new eight-year, $920 million contract with ESPN for broadcast rights to NCAA Olympic and women’s sports championships; contract also grants ESPN international broadcast for Division I men’s basketball tournament; rights women’s basketball tournament is packaged with the other sports, which continues to marginalize its value; NCAA statement says “With the significant increase in value of the new agreement, NCAA members will explore revenue distribution units for the women’s basketball tournament…those discussions will continue with membership in the coming year.”

2024 (January 9th - 13th) - NCAA holds its annual convention in Phoenix; 3000 attendees across all three Divisions; themes at the convention include (1) protective federal legislation; (2)increasing NCAA revenues; (3) Title IX compliance (4) sports betting guardrails; (5) mental health (6) NCAA legislation to move forward Baker’s D-I proposal; Charlie Baker delivers his state of the association speech which included an open appeal for protective federal legislation; NCAA holds “Featured Session” titled “Safeguarding the Future of College Sports: Congressional Advocacy Tools for Campuses and Conferences”; session is an explicit lobbying effort for protective federal legislation including antitrust immunity; lobbying effort directed to stakeholders, not Congress

2023 (January 12th) - NCAA releases infractions decision involving a Florida State assistant football coach’s facilitation of a meeting between a prospect in the transfer portal and a booster who runs an FSU NIL collective; the case was adjudicated through the “Negotiated Resolution” Process that is collaborative; case involved “impermissible recruiting activities” and “provision of false or misleading information” by the assistant coach; these violations were charged as “Level II” (less severe than “Level I”) violations

2024 (January 18th) - the United States, the District of Columbia, and the states of Minnesota, Mississippi, and Virginia intervene in the Ohio et al. v NCAA federal antitrust suit in West Virginia challenging the NCAA’s transfer rules; intervention by the United States is significant and places additional pressure on NCAA

2024 (January 18th) - House Subcommittee on Data, Innovation, and Commerce, chaired by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), holds a hearing titled “NIL Playbook: Proposal to Protect Student Athletes’ Dealmaking Rights”; six witnesses testify; four are pro-Power 5/NCAA; two advocate against protective federal legislation; for the first time in four years through eleven hearings and fifty-eight witness slots, a current Power 5 football athlete—Chase Griffin of UCLA—testifies; Griffin offers a persuasive, comprehensive free market-based rebuttal to the limitations in Bilirakis’s bill and the broader question of the necessity for government regulation in college sports

2024 (January 31st) - the states of Tennessee and Virginia file a federal antitrust suit against the NCAA challenging the NCAA’s NIL rules and policies; the suit arises from an NCAA infractions and enforcement case against the University of Tennessee involving its NIL collective Sprye Sports; the NCAA alleges the collective made payments as recruiting inducements; Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti issues press release saying in part, “The NCAA’s restraints on prospective students’ ability to meaningfully negotiate NIL deals violate federal antitrust law. Only Congress has the power to impose such limits.”; suit seeks an order declaring the NCAA’s NIL-recruitment ban violates section 1 of the Sherman Act and (2) a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctive relief “barring the NCAA from enforcing its NIL-recruiting ban or taking any other action to prevent prospective college athletes and transfer candidates from engaging in meaningful NIL discussions prior to enrollment, including under the NCAA’s Rule of Restitution”

2024 (February 2nd) - SEC and Big Ten announce a partnership to collaborate on big-picture issues in college sports, including settling pending litigation (particularly House), governance proposals, and state laws; partnership comes to be known as the “SEC-Big Ten Advisory Group” comprised of key conference stakeholders and decision-makers; Big 12 and ACC not consulted before Advisory Group was created; move generates speculation that the SEC and Big Ten are planning a departure from the NCAA; SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti say that is not their intention; Advisory Group could be influential in structure and payout system in expanded CFP; in response to why stakeholders outside the SEC and Big Ten are excluded, Sankey says, “Big problems are not solved in big rooms filled with people. You have to narrow the focus a bit. There may be raised eyebrows. We certainly called in advance to communicate what was going to be announced rather than do it in the shadows and have someone report on it. You might as well put things out there.”

2024 (February 5th) - in the Dartmouth NLRB unionization case, the NLRB Regional Director rules in favor of the men’s basketball players and issues her Decision and Direction of Election; applying the common law test for employee status, the Regional Director finds the athletes are employees within the meaning of the NLRA.

2024 (February 7th) - House members Alma Adams (D-NC), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), and Lori Trahan (D-MA) re-introduce the Fair Play for Women Act that would hold the NCAA accountable under Title IX and provide athletes a private right of action; the bill makes Title IX applicable to the NCAA, which cures a defect in Title IX coverage from the 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision in NCAA v Smith in which the Court held that Title IX did not apply to the NCAA because it does not receive federal education money; Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduce a companion bill in the Senate

2024 (February 23rd) - in the Tennessee NIL suit, U.S. District Court Judge Clifton Corker (E.D. TN) issues a preliminary injunction against the NCAA; under the order, the NCAA is “ restrained and enjoined from enforcing the NCAA Interim NIL Policy, the NCAA Bylaws, or any other authority to the extent such authority prohibits student-athletes from negotiating compensation for NIL with any third-party entity, including but not limited to boosters or a collective of boosters, until a full and final decision on the merits in the instant action.”; the order also prevents the NCAA from enforcing its “Restitution Rule” (NCAA Bylaw 12.11.4.2) that allows it to punish athletes and schools if they seek judicial relief and the case is ultimately resolved in the NCAA’s favor; the ruling permits collectives associated with a particular school to discuss potential NIL deals with high school and transfer portal prospects

2024 (March 5th) - Dartmouth men’s basketball team votes 13 - 2 to form a union; Dartmouth immediately appeals to the NLRB’s top board; NCAA issues statement restating NCAA opposition to employee status for athletes and the need for federal legislation:

“The NCAA is making changes to deliver more benefits to student-athletes, including guaranteed health care and guaranteed scholarships, but the NCAA and student-athlete leadership from all three divisions agree college athletes should not be forced into an employment model. The Association believes change in college sports is long overdue and is pursuing significant reforms. However, there are some issues the NCAA cannot address alone, and the Association looks forward to working with Congress to make needed changes in the best interest of all student-athletes.”

2024 (March 5th) - immediately after the Dartmouth vote, the House Committee on Education & the Workforce’s Subcommittees on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and Higher Education and Workforce Development announce a March 12th hearing is ironically titled "Safeguarding Student-Athletes From NLRB Misclassification"; the hearing is identical in context and purpose to a reactionary hearing in the same committee on May 8, 2014 after the regional director issued his decision in the Northwestern unionization case finding that Northwestern football players were employees and entitled to vote on whether to form a union; the 2014 hearing was likewise ironically titled “Student-Athlete Unions”

2024 (March 12th) - House Committee on Education & the Workforce’s Subcommittees on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and Higher Education and Workforce Development hold a hearing ironically titled "Safeguarding Student-Athletes From NLRB Misclassification"; hearing is a frontal attack on athletes as employees, the NLRB’s policy on athletes as employees, and the NLRB’s Dartmouth decision; former NLRB national board member Mark Gaston Pearce (below) educates the Committee on the history of the term “student-athlete”