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Paula Lavigne
The NCAA has agreed to pay $303 million to settle a class action antitrust lawsuit representing about 7,700 volunteer college coaches who alleged the organization engaged in illegal wage fixing under a rule that prohibited schools from paying them.
On average, a coach from Monday’s proposed settlement would receive about $39,200 before expenses and fees, based on the school, sport and years worked, according to the proposed settlement, which is awaiting approval by Judge William B. Shubb in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
From 1992 to July 2023, the NCAA and its schools agreed to cap the number of paid coaches for Division I sports. Certain sports teams were allowed one “volunteer coach” who would not be paid and who was restricted from receiving other benefits. The NCAA punished schools that violated that rule.
The lawsuit claimed those actions were examples of wage-fixing and “unlawful agreements in restraint of the trade and commerce,” referring to the NCAA in the complaint as a “cartel.”
“This combination and conspiracy by the NCAA and its members schools (which possess a dominant position in the relevant market) has resulted in, and will until restrained continue to result in, anti-competitive effects,” including fixing compensation “at the artificially low level of zero” and eliminating or suppressing competition for skilled labor in the market, the lawsuit states.
The proposed settlement agreement noted that “many class members will receive a six-figure amount.” The class includes volunteer coaches who, at any point from March 17, 2019, to June 20, 2023, worked for an NCAA Division I athletic program other than baseball.
Baseball coaches filed a similar lawsuit in November 2022 and reached a settlement with the NCAA for $49.25 million, with $33 million going specifically to about 1,000 coaches. Judge Shubb, who is also overseeing the current lawsuit, signed off in September. In response to that case, the NCAA dropped the rule limiting the number of paid coaches across all sports in July 2023, and coaches who had previously been designated “volunteer” could now be paid.
The second lawsuit, filed in March 2023, initially represented five former volunteer coaches as named plaintiffs, who worked in sports such as swimming, track and field, volleyball, and softball. (Volunteer coaches were not allowed in football or basketball.) One of those was Katherine Sebbane, who coached softball at the University of Pittsburgh from 2019 until 2021.
Sebbane was paid about $25,000 to run the university’s youth camps, clinics and recruiting events. But she also worked about 40 hours a week as an assistant coach, for which she was not paid. As a volunteer coach, she was also not allowed to receive other benefits, including meals and even medical care from athletic trainers.
“There was an instance where the team was catered Chick-fil-A and [a] compliance [official] was down the hall… I was verbatim told, ‘Hey, don’t go out there to grab a sandwich. Compliance is down there.’ Like, you’re not supposed to be eating with the team,” she told ESPN. “And I’m like, I’m the one who can’t afford groceries.”
While Sebbane said she willingly took the job knowing she wouldn’t be paid, she said there was an understanding in coaching circles that doing so was almost a requirement to get to the next stage and climb the ladder to a paid position. The lawsuit stated that many other volunteer coaches felt similarly.
Sebbane said she finally had to give up the job and left coaching. “There’s a lot of people that have suffered financially, and, you know, two years of financial distress, that takes, like, 10 years to catch up. I believe all of us should be compensated for our time that we put in,” she said.
In July 2023, Judge Shubb denied the NCAA’s motion to dismiss, noting that “plaintiffs have alleged facts sufficient to show a violation” of the Sherman Antitrust Act. He wrote, “it is not implausible that plaintiffs would have been paid a salary above $0 but for the NCAA’s adoption of the bylaw.”
After the settlement agreement, plaintiffs’ attorneys Dennis Stewart, Michael Lieberman and Bob Gralewski said in an emailed statement, “We are incredibly proud of this settlement which, if approved, will provide significant and meaningful compensation to thousands of hard-working coaches…We look forward to the approval process and are committed to ensuring that these funds are distributed to coaches in a fair and efficient manner.”
This was the latest in a series of lawsuits alleging antitrust behavior by the NCAA, including the recent $2.8 billion settlement agreement to compensate athletes for lost opportunities to benefit from their name, image and likeness, and to allow schools to share revenue with athletes.
NCAA president Charlie Baker addressed the volunteer coaches settlement in a memo sent to members Monday, noting the dispute with the volunteer coaches “is one of the largest remaining lawsuits we face and resolving it provides certainty and clarity for the association and our members.”
He noted that the settlement will be funded by the Division I membership and the national office, and payments likely wouldn’t start until after next summer.
“While this settlement represents a substantial financial commitment, it closes the door on claims related to volunteer coach bylaws, which were effective until June 30, 2023. It also ensures that Division I conferences and member schools are released from any claims for unpaid wages, benefits, or related damages during the Class Period,” Baker wrote.
