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The National College Players Association, an advocacy group for college athletes, filed a federal complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights Tuesday accusing 350-plus Division I programs of violating athletes’ civil rights by prohibiting direct compensation.
The complaint argues that NCAA rules barring direct compensation by institutions to players—not to be confused with athletes earning money from the use of their name, image and likeness, which they are now free to do—disproportionately affects Black athletes, who comprise the majority of football and men’s basketball players on Division I rosters, according to a study the NCPA referenced.
“This multibillion college sports enterprise imposes discriminatory practices that disproportionately harm Black athletes, while predominantly White coaches and administrators make millions of dollars,” NCPA executive director Ramogi Huma said in a statement reported by ESPN. “College athletes throughout predominantly White sports receive fair market compensation, but athletes in the only predominantly Black sports (FBS football and men’s and women’s basketball) do not. All college athletes should have the opportunity to receive fair market pay. This can happen without cutting any sports. Colleges would just have to spend a bit less on coaches’ salaries and luxury facilities.”
