NCAA Decides To Stop Fighting, Halting All NCAA Investigations Into NIL Violations After Court Ruling

The NCAA has decided to put on the brakes when it comes to investigations pertaining to NIL and third-party collectives. The announcement comes in the wake of the preliminary injunction granted against the NCAA in a lawsuit involving the States of Tennessee and Virginia regarding NIL.

A decision to halt all investigations is a move that was potentially expected for the enforcement staff, given that they did not know what boundaries were in place to continue investigating schools that might have broken rules in the past. 

On3 was the first to report that a memo was sent to all schools on Friday, which announced that all investigations that involved collectives would be halted. 

"In response to this latest order, the Division I Board of Directors directed NCAA enforcement staff to pause and not begin investigations involving third-party participation in NIL-related activities," NCAA President Charlie Baker wrote. "There will be no penalty for conduct that occurs consistent with the injunction while the injunction is in place. I agree with this decision, while the progress toward long-term solutions is underway and while we await discussions with the attorneys general.

"In circumstances that are less than ideal, this at least gives the membership notice of the board’s direction related to enforcement."

The measures that collectives cannot pay for student athletes to attend a school on their play alone is still being pushed by the NCAA. They do not want the ‘pay-for-play’ narrative to continue being pushed, but unfortunately for them, there's nothing they can really do about the situation now. 

"I realize pausing NIL-realted enforcement while these other bylaws are upheld by the injunction will raise significant questions on campuses. This is precisely why a D-1 meeting room, not a courtroom, is the best place to change NCAA policy," Baker wrote to members. "This is the only practical response to the injunction at this time, and we hope the attorneys will work with us to clarify next steps."

That's it folks, if the NCAA wants to enforce rules around NIL, it's going to have to work with schools and collectives moving forward. Investigations into schools for potential violations is no longer a thing, with this memo pointing out that they need to back down. 

We are still going to have discussions around how to fix NIL and steps moving forward, but today was a clear sign that the NCAA can longer fight this in a courtroom, and it's not worth it to continue toying with schools if there is no clear guidance in place. 

So, if you are Tennessee and Florida, you can breathe a sigh of relief. While Florida State needs to go back to the NCAA and tell them we are not taking the punishment handed down recently. 

Another monumental day in college athletics, with the NCAA once again taking it on the chin.