Oregon Women's Athletes Suing University For Title IX Violations Over NIL Money Distribution

A group of female athletes at the University of Oregon have filed a lawsuit against the school for allegedly violating Title IX regulations.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, covers 32 athletes, 26 of whom play for the Oregon beach volleyball team, and six of whom are on a rowing team. According to Sportico, the plaintiffs alleged that the school is "violating federal law by depriving them of equal athletic financial aid and other resources." Specifically that other Oregon athletes are taking in huge amounts of money through both an NIL collective and marketplace.

Despite the fact that the collective is not an official legal entity of the school, the lawsuit alleges that Oregon should be responsible for the disparity in resources and opportunity between male and female athletes.

They also allege that the school is not appropriately distributing resources, with just 25% of the athletic budget and 15% of recruiting money spent on female athletes. Despite making up nearly half of the rosters within the programs. That should require a $4.5 million back payment to make up for the publicly disclosed differences.

What complicates the lawsuit is that the rowing team, which contributed six plaintiffs to the suit, is not an officially recognized varsity sport at Oregon. Their claim is that the school should recognize them because of the lack of compliance with Title IX.

MOBILE, AL - A view of an Oregon Ducks helmet during the Reese's Senior Bowl team practice session on February 2, 2023 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. (Photo by Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Oregon Lawsuit Details Claimed Disparate Treatment

On top of the NIL component, the lawsuit alleges that the school hasn't effectively given out athletic department funds. While they claim that's manifested itself in terms of equipment, coaches pay, locker rooms and travel accommodations, perhaps one of the funniest examples is yet another damning example of the rapidly declining quality of life in blue areas.

According to the complaint, the women's beach volleyball team is forced to compete in a public park which, “has bathrooms with no doors on the stalls, and is frequently littered with feces, drug paraphernalia, and other discarded items.” 

The lead plaintiff and beach volleyball player Ashley Schroeder said in a statement that she and her teammates couldn't practice recently because someone was found dead near their court and that the restrooms are "not safe."

“We cannot use the restrooms there, because they’re not safe and, sometimes, people are in the stalls using drugs,” Schroeder explained. “But the men’s teams have full scholarships, multimillion-dollar budgets, and professional-level, state-of-the-art facilities. I love the University of Oregon, but this hurtful, outrageous sex discrimination has to stop.” 

What a shining endorsement for the policies of far left Eugene, Oregon, where Joe Biden won in 2020 with 61% of the vote!

Will NIL Be Affected By Title IX Lawsuit?

It's not immediately clear how much success the female athletes will have with their allegations, especially considering the NIL collective isn't an official legal entity of the school.

Rowing, in particular, is effectively a club sport that wants to become a varsity sport. But the school may not be required to recognize it as a varsity sport to be compliant with Title IX. The alleged issues with disparate funding seem more damning for the university, but NIL money is effectively a free market issue.

There's obviously little interest from outside collectives and advertisers to partner with women's rowers or beach volleyball players in Oregon, thus they don't receive substantial funding. The lawsuit references the fact that three of the Ducks football players are listed in the Top 100 most valuable NIL athletes.

But that's because the Oregon football team is one of the best in the country, with several nationally recognizable players. That's how the free market works.

It's hard to see how this lawsuit, or the university is supposed to fix the difference in popularity.