The NCAA has agreed to eliminate restrictions on prize money earned by athletes before they enroll in college as part of a federal antitrust settlement, marking another significant concession in the organization's ongoing legal battles over athlete compensation and organizational authority.
The development was revealed in a federal court filing on April 28, stemming from a proposed class-action settlement in a lawsuit initially filed by North Carolina women's tennis player Reese Brantmeier in 2024. Former Texas tennis player Maya Joint also joined the case as a named plaintiff after being forced to forfeit much of the $147,000 in prize money she earned at the U.S. Open in order to maintain her NCAA eligibility in 2024. The settlement represents the NCAA's latest retreat from rules designed to preserve its traditional definition of "amateurism" in collegiate athletics.
The Settlement Terms and Scope
As part of the proposed settlement, the NCAA agreed to eliminate restrictions on pre-enrollment prize money for athletes in all sports, not just tennis. The NCAA also agreed to pay total damages of $2.02 million, including a $10,000 service award to Joint and Brantmeier, plus $1.875 million in attorney's fees and $425,000 in costs. Additionally, the NCAA agreed to pay up to $250,000 toward settlement notice and administration costs.
The damages class includes NCAA tennis players who voluntarily forfeited prize money earned at a tennis tournament since March 2020, according to the filing. Brantmeier's initial antitrust complaint against the NCAA detailed how she had to forfeit most of her $48,913 in prize money from the U.S. Open in 2021 because of an NCAA rule that restricted such prize money earned before and during college. She was also forced to sit out of NCAA competition in the fall of 2022 because the NCAA challenged some of the expenses she submitted for her participation in that same event.
The plaintiffs said in their motion to approve the proposed settlement on April 28, "The proposed settlement is an extraordinary outcome for the Classes, and the injunctive relief obtained will positively impact future generations of student-athletes."
Historical NCAA Restrictions and Legal Pressure
Prize money previously was restricted by the NCAA because the organization wanted to preserve its notion of "amateurism" for athletes instead of allowing them to earn money like professionals. Under the old rules, before college enrollment, NCAA rules restricted what athletes could earn, allowing them to accept no more than $10,000 in prize money on a total annual basis for all tennis competitions during high school, as well as reimbursement for undefined expenses associated with such competitions. After college enrollment, the NCAA prohibited student-athletes from accepting prize money earned for their athletic performances except to cover "actual and necessary expenses."
The NCAA's restrictions have faced mounting legal challenges. Starting in 2021, the NCAA was pressured into allowing athletes to receive money for their names, images and likenesses following antitrust challenges. In 2024, the NCAA agreed to remove restrictions on athletes who transfer to different schools after state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against the organization. Starting last year, the NCAA also allowed schools to share revenue with athletes directly under the settlement terms of a different lawsuit brought by athletes who challenged NCAA restrictions on antitrust grounds.
Remaining Legal Steps
A federal judge still must approve the settlement on a preliminary basis and then schedule a final hearing before final approval. The plaintiffs' motion filed April 28 stated, "Upon this Court's final approval of the Settlement, the NCAA will be enjoined from reinstating the pre-college enrollment Prize Money Rules that existed prior to the Settlement."
Why This Matters:
The NCAA's repeated antitrust settlements reflect a broader institutional challenge to the organization's regulatory authority over athlete compensation. Each successive settlement—from NIL rights in 2021 to transfer restrictions in 2024 to direct revenue sharing last year and now pre-college prize money—demonstrates how litigation costs and legal exposure are systematically dismantling the NCAA's ability to enforce uniform compensation rules. The $2.02 million settlement cost, combined with attorney's fees and administrative expenses, adds to the organization's mounting legal liabilities. More significantly, these settlements raise questions about whether the NCAA can maintain any coherent compensation framework or whether market forces will ultimately determine athlete earnings across all categories. The elimination of pre-college prize money restrictions removes one of the few remaining barriers between amateur and professional athletic compensation, potentially affecting how high school athletes and their families navigate competitive tennis and other sports.