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A Boise State commit has filed an NIL lawsuit that could spark a change in the NIL landscape of high school sports nationally. The class-action lawsuit was filed on Monday by Dominik Calhoun, who represented Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, California, in football and on track.
The three-star’s suit is against the California Interscholastic Federation and others, including Spectrum SportsNet and SBLive Sports. The suit argued that the CIF’s restrictions on NIL is in violation of antitrust laws. It also asked the federation to amend its rules while demanding for damages.
The suit was filed in the Northern District of California federal court, where several landmark NIL lawsuits against the NCAA have also been heard. A part of the suit reads:
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“These policies harm the high school student-athletes who create the economic value exploited by the CIF, its Sections, its member schools, and their commercial partners, and constitute unreasonable restraints of trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.”
A change in the NCAA rules in 2021 allowed college athletes to start earning from NIL. An NIL market has since opened up in high school athletics, with many athletes taking advantage to earn, but rules vary across states in terms of high school NIL.
Only 30 states have rules allowing high school students to earn from NIL. California is a leading state in high school NIL, with athletes like Bronny James and JuJu Watkins having taken closed lucrative deals.
Why did Dominik Calhoun file his potential landmark NIL lawsuit?
According to Calhoun’s NIL lawsuit, it's not enough that the CIF gives allowance for a limited range of NIL earnings while restricting others. High school athletes in California, for instance, cannot take deals from the schools they represent or other stakeholders like boosters.
The rules also restrict players from earning directly from their participation on their respective teams. Yaman Salahi, one of Calhoun’s co-lead attorneys, said in a statement to Front Office Sports:
“This case challenges rules that unfairly prevent high school athletes in California from being compensated for their hard work and the use of their name, image, and likeness - even as others profit from them.”
The success of the lawsuit could lead to a nationwide trend in high school sports, much like the one in college sports. In other words, the rules that prevent athletes from earning from their NIL and changing schools may be nearing their sunset.
