A Circuit Court judge denied the State of Tennessee and Commonwealth of Virginia’s request for a temporary restraining order against the NCAA on Tuesday.
Tennessee and Virginia’s request would have put a pause on the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness rules ahead of Wednesday’s National Signing Day.
Judge Clifton Corker denied the request because of his belief that Tennessee and Virginia didn’t provide adequate proof that there would be real harm caused to current student-athletes if the rules were allowed to stay in place.
While Judge Corker didn’t grant the State of Tennessee and Commonwealth of Virginia’s request, it doesn’t mean he disagreed with the entirety of their case against the NCAA. In fact, Corker said the state’s case would “likely” succeed due to federal anti-trust laws.
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Judge Corker will hear a longer arguments from both parties on the same debate on Feb. 13 as part of a preliminary injunction before the court’s decide the case. Though the judge denied the State of Tennessee and Commonwealth of Virginia’s request, that doesn’t mean his decision will be the same next week.
The temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction come in the early stages of the State of Tennessee and Commonwealth of Virginia’s lawsuit against the NCAA that threatens to shake up the current intercollegiate sports landscape.
Tennessee is challenging the NCAA’s rules that forbid NIL collectives to induce prospective student-athletes with contracts. The NCAA is currently investigating the University of Tennessee over potential NIL related violations in multiple sports.
Tuesday’s hearing comes just one week after Sports Illustrated reported that the NCAA was once again investigating Tennessee athletics— this time for NIL related violations— and six days after the State of Tennessee and Commonwealth of Virginia filed their antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA..
