The attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia filed suit on Wednesday against the N.C.A.A., saying the body that regulates college athletics has no right to block the increasingly common practice of wealthy boosters paying to attract top recruits.
The suit was filed a day after the disclosure that the N.C.A.A.
was investigating the University of Tennessee’s football program for recruiting violations involving a donor group that arranges to pay athletes.
The driving force behind that change has been donor collectives, which are groups of alumni and other boosters who donate money that is used to compensate top athletes, sometimes in amounts approaching professional levels.
In effect, the collectives pay salaries disguised as endorsements, and they now play a central role in the process of wooing players in football, basketball and other sports.
Organizations:
University of Tennessee’s
Locations:
Tennessee, Virginia