Terrelle Pryor has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, Ohio State, Big Ten and Learfield over the usage of his and other former OSU athletes’ names, images and likenesses.
The former Ohio State quarterback filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Friday, seeking damages from the NCAA, Ohio State, Big Ten and Learfield for the past and continued use of former Ohio State athletes’ NIL without permission or compensation.
We have yet another lawsuit by a pre-2016 college athlete for Nil violations.
— Sam C. Ehrlich (@samcehrlich) October 4, 2024
This time: Terrelle Pryor has sued the NCAA, Ohio State, the Big Ten, and Learfield.
As with the others, it's based on antitrust and unjust enrichment.
Complaint: https://t.co/1SGdvbyx1w pic.twitter.com/XzUlSOvY3s
Pryor’s lawsuit alleges that the defendants violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by prohibiting him and other Ohio State athletes from being compensated for their NIL rights during their college careers. Pryor has filed the lawsuit on behalf of “all former student-athletes who competed on an Ohio State athletic team at any time prior to the changes to the name, image, and likeness rules of the NCAA” and has requested the lawsuit be certified as a class action.
Pryor is requesting a “temporary and permanent injunction” that would prevent the defendants from continuing to use the names, images and likenesses of former Ohio State athletes without permission and compensation. He also seeks for former Ohio State athletes to receive damages for the past usage of their NIL, including a “share of game telecast group licensing revenue” that those athletes “would have received absent the Defendants’ unlawful conduct” and the social media earnings that those athletes would have received had they not been prohibited from profiting from their NIL.
An Ohio State spokesperson said Ohio State would not comment on pending litigation.
Pryor’s lawsuit joins a host of other lawsuits that have been filed by former college athletes regarding the use of their name, image and likeness. Last month, a quartet of former Michigan players – Braylon Edwards, Denard Robinson, Mike Martin and Shawn Crable – filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and Big Ten Network seeking $50 million in NIL damages for former Michigan football players who played for the university before 2016.
While the NCAA has agreed to a settlement of three other class-action lawsuits that will award back pay to athletes who have participated in NCAA athletics since 2016, that settlement does not cover athletes who played college sports before 2016, such as Pryor, who played for the Buckeyes from 2008-10.
Pryor’s Ohio State career ended after the 2010 season when he and four of his Ohio State teammates – Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas – were each suspended five games for selling Ohio State memorabilia and receiving free tattoos. At the time, NCAA rules prohibited athletes from being paid or receiving benefits for their names, images and likenesses. Pryor chose to withdraw from Ohio State rather than serve the suspension and entered the NFL’s supplemental draft.
