'Completely arbitrary': UNC athlete sues NCAA over prize money rules in latest challenge to amateurism
Posted March 19, 2024 11:35 a.m. EDT
Updated March 19, 2024 3:46 p.m. EDT
A University of North Carolina athlete is suing the NCAA over its rules that prohibit individual athletes from accepting prize money in non-NCAA competitions — the latest federal complaint targeting rules restricting college athletes from cashing in on their skills or reputations.
UNC women's tennis player Reese Brantmeier filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court's Middle District of North Carolina. She seeks to suspend the rule and ultimately have it invalidated.
"What defines a student-athlete is actually being a student — going to class, taking the same tests and doing the same work as other students," said Jason Miller, a Raleigh attorney whose firm Miller, Monroe and Plyler is representing Brantmeier.
"The definition of a student is not tied to whether or not they have a side job working at the Starbucks in Chapel Hill as a barista or somebody that is competing in non-NCAA events in tennis or golf. The definition of a student-athlete should be tied to whether or not they are a student and not where they make money."
The suit seeks to have all Division I athletes in individual sports such as tennis, golf, swimming, track and field, wrestling, gymnastics, bowling, equestrian, rifle and skiing certified as a class.
The NCAA didn't immediately respond to WRAL's request for comment.
Brantmeier, then a high school junior, competed in the 2022 U.S. Open and advanced to the third round of the singles competition and the second round of the doubles competition. Brantmeier was entitled to receive more than $49,109, but was limited to the NCAA allowable $10,000.
Fellow UNC women's tennis player Fiona Crowley advanced to the fourth round of the 2023 U.S. Open and forfeited more than $80,000 in prize money. Nick Dunlap, an Alabama golfer, won a PGA Tour event earlier this year and could not claim the $1.5 million prize.
The NCAA has created exceptions to its prize money rules, specifically for Olympians who win medals and receive a monetary prize from their country. As the lawsuit points out, Brantmeier would have been able to claim the money if it had been awarded as a "grant," or if her appearance were considered a name, image and likeness deal.
"The NCAA's rules related to prize money restrictions for student-athletes in non-revenue, individual sports are completely arbitrary — particularly when viewed in the context of its other rules, restrictions, exceptions, and enforcement practices in the overall present landscape of college athletics," Brantmeier says in the complaint.
"The restrictions on prize money have deprived and continue to deprive student-athletes of compensation earned for athletic performance and achievement in non-NCAA competitions. Such restrictions unlawfully suppress the earning ability of student-athletes competing in individual sports," the complaint said.
Brantmeier is currently a sophomore at UNC. She missed part of her freshman season after the NCAA questioned the validity of some of her expenses from the U.S. Open. She played No. 1 singles for the Tar Heels, who won the NCAA Tournament title.
Brantmeier is ranked No. 1 in doubles, but is out for the season after suffering a knee injury in January.
