The Commodores are having an incredible season, and Diego Pavia, their star quarterback, deserves all the praise for his outstanding on-field play. His play this season has drawn notice, particularly after he led Vanderbilt to important wins, such as an upset victory against Alabama. But all of a sudden, his daring action—rather than his performance—made him the talk of the town. He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA. But why such a daring move?

Pavia has filed the lawsuit, alleging that the rules governing junior college (JUCO) eligibility are unjust and onerous. Pavia’s case contests regulations that he claims are unjust to athletes making the move from community institutions to Division I programs. He argues, in particular, that these regulations restrict the number of seasons that former junior college players can play NCAA football, which he claims is against antitrust laws and prevents them from making money off of their NIL rights. Mit Winter, attorney at Kennyhertz Perry LLC, reported it on his X post, which read the details of the lawsuit.

“He alleges NCAA rules that count juco seasons towards NCAA eligibility & that prohibit redshirts from being used after an athlete has played 4 years at an NCAA school violate antitrust law,” wrote Mit Winter. Pavia’s complaint argues that these eligibility requirements put junior college athletes at a competitive disadvantage and requests a court order to change them. The NCAA has a rule that counts time spent at a JUCO towards a player’s overall college eligibility. So, if you play two years at a JUCO and then transfer to a Division I school, you only have two years left to play. Plus, once you’ve played four years at the Division I level, you can’t redshirt another year. Pavia argues that these rules limit his earning potential through NIL deals, as they reduce the number of years one can play college sports.

If you are not aware, Diego Pavia began his collegiate football career at the New Mexico Military Institute. After playing the 2021 season, he transferred to New Mexico State University and eventually joined Vanderbilt. Due to his own career experience, he realized that the JUCO Eligibility Bylaws could affect a player’s compensation. That is why Pavia’s case might establish a standard for upcoming litigation against the NCAA over athlete earnings and eligibility regulations.

However, the question of the $1.1 billion debate in the CFB world, which puts the quarterback on the border, still stands. Let’s explore it thoroughly.

Nitty-gritty of Diego Pavia’s lawsuit

Over the past four decades, college athletics’ market realities have undergone a significant shift. For example, CBS spent $16 million annually to broadcast the March Madness Division I men’s basketball tournament from 1982-1984. Those yearly television rights generated about $1.1 billion in 2016. This means that the NCAA can no longer claim any “sort of judicially ordained immunity from the terms of the Sherman Act for its restraints of trade.”

On July 1, 2021, the NCAA repealed its ban on NCAA players receiving NIL compensation in response to the Alston lecture. The market for NCAA Division I athletes’ NIL payment options has grown rapidly in the last three years; the 2024 college football NIL market is projected to be worth $1.1 billion.

Importantly, NCAA Division 1 athletes are essentially the only ones who can take advantage of those NIL Compensation chances. In actuality, non-NCAA Division I football players are expected to get just $6.5 million, or less than six-tenths of 1%, of this year’s projected $1.1 billion in football NIL Compensation.

Therefore, you can see there is no genuine opportunity for football players who play outside of the NCAA monopolies to profit from NIL. Given this condition, Pavia’s lawsuit seems quite reasonable. And Ryan Downton is handling the quarterback’s case, which was filed with the U.S. District Court on November 8. Now we’ll have to wait and see how this case plays out.