A federal judge in Ohio has dismissed a lawsuit seeking compensation for thousands of former Ohio State athletes from the NCAA.
In her ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Sarah Morrison said former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor filed his proposed class action against the NCAA, Ohio State, the Big Ten and others too late.
Pryor, who played for Ohio State from 2008 to ’10, sued the NCAA and other defendants in October, accusing them of violating antitrust law by barring members of the school’s sports teams from seeking to profit from the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.
Plaintiffs generally face a four-year window to bring claims under U.S. antitrust law.
“Mr. Pryor knew the material facts underlying his antitrust claims long before the four-year limitations period had run,” Morrison said.
The NCAA in a statement welcomed the judge’s ruling and said “we are hopeful that additional copycat cases will see the same outcome.”
Ohio State and attorneys for the plaintiff did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Pryor said in the lawsuit that the NCAA and others have continued to make money from the use of his name, image and likeness through videos and other broadcasts.
Former USC running back Reggie Bush filed a similar lawsuit against the university, the NCAA and the Pac-12 in September, as a number of former Michigan stars against the NCAA and Big Ten.
Morrison ruled that Ohio State as a public school and arm of the state was immune from the lawsuit.
The NCAA this year revamped its rules over compensation for college athletes, agreeing for the first time to allow schools to pay students directly.
As part of the landmark settlement, the organization agreed to pay $2.8 billion to compensate thousands of current and former athletes since 2016 for the commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.
Reuters contributed to this report.
