NCAA Faces New Antitrust Suit Over Volunteer Coach Wage-Fixing

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is the subject of an antitrust legal action which contends that they, along with member schools, participated in a collusive arrangement to avoid compensating volunteer coaches, reported Bloomberg.

The NCAA’s bylaw restricts Division 1 schools to a limited number of paid coaches. Still, it allows the hiring of other designated “volunteer coaches” who aren’t paid, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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“These agreements among Defendant and its member schools, in antitrust terms, make the member schools a buyer-side cartel,” said the three plaintiffs, who coach track and field and wrestling.

The research indicated that volunteer coaches often give their time in excess of 40 hours a week to the job.

“In reality, that means that skilled coaches who are desired by NCAA schools, but not employed as regular (paid) coaches, must provide very valuable services to the schools for free, or not be employed in their profession of choice,” they said.

The plaintiffs are seeking certification of a class of more than 1,000 people who will have worked as volunteer coaches between March 17, 2019 to June 30, 2023.