NCAA slammed with 2008 antitrust lawsuit from Kansas basketball team

The National Association of College Athletics is grappling with a new antitrust complaint filed by members of the 2008 national champion Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team who claim the organization failed to pay them an image credit.

Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins and other members of the 2008 Kansas Jayhawks team claim they have not received any compensation for the continued use of their name, image and likeness in promoting March Madness tournaments, a motion filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The complaint joins a series of antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA, including one filed last month by the 1983 North Carolina State University men’s basketball championship team. The complaint, filed by the Kansas team, says the NCAA promoted March Madness through countless reruns of “Mario’s Miracle,” in which Chalmers made the iconic shot in a game against the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team.

“But for Defendants’ conduct, Plaintiffs and Class Members would have received a competitive share of the revenues paid to the NCAA and its affiliates by virtue of Plaintiffs’ and Class Members’ work,” the former players said in the complaint.

The lawsuit was filed after the NCAA agreed to a $2.8 billion settlement to resolve antitrust litigation that followed years of legal battles with student-athletes demanding fair pay.

The NCAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The plaintiffs are represented by the law firm of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC.

The case is Chalmers v. NCAA, SDNY, No. 1:24-cv-05008, 7/1/24.