Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association Frequently Asked Questions
This notice is to tell you about the settlement of a class action lawsuit, Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, Case No. 4:23-cv-01593, brought on behalf of current or former college athletes who competed on a Division I athletic team at any time between April 1, 2019 and September 15, 2024 and would have met the requirements for receiving an Academic Achievement Award under the criteria established by their schools for qualifying for such an Award. You may be a member of the group of people affected, called the “class.” This notice gives you a summary of the terms of the proposed Settlement Agreement, explains what rights class members have, and helps class members make informed decisions about what action to take.
Read this notice to understand the settlement and to determine if you are a class member. Then, decide if you want to
OPTIONS | MORE INFORMATION ABOUT EACH OPTION |
DO NOTHING |
Likely get no money and give up your right to bring a lawsuit against the NCAA, and the Power Five Conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC), including their member institutions, about the same issues. |
PARTICIPATE IN SETTLEMENT |
Potentially receive payment, if you qualify. Update your contact information/payment method and/or submit a Claim Form to receive payment. See Frequently Asked Question 12. Give up your right to bring a lawsuit about the same issues against the NCAA, the Power Five Conferences (the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and/or SEC), including their member institutions. See Frequently Asked Question 16. |
OPT OUT | Get no payment. Allows you to bring another lawsuit against the NCAA, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC and/or their member institutions about the same issues. |
OBJECT |
Tell the Court why you don’t like the settlement. |
Read on to understand the specifics of the settlement and what each choice would mean for you.
Your deadline to object or opt out: January 31, 2025
Settlement Final Approval Hearing: April 7, 2025. The date and time of the hearing may change without further notice. Please visit this website or the Court's PACER site at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov to confirm that the date and time of the hearing has not changed.
Your deadline to submit a Claim Form: January 31, 2025.
Several college athletes sued the NCAA and Power Five Conferences in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA and Power Five Conferences broke the law by agreeing not to pay college athletes Academic Achievement (Alston) awards.
The NCAA and Power Five Conferences deny that they did anything wrong.
Where can I learn more? You can get a complete copy of the Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and the Court's Orders HERE.
The parties agreed to settle, which means they have reached an agreement to resolve the lawsuit. Both sides want to avoid the risk and expense of further litigation.
The settlement is on behalf of everyone that competed on a Division I athletic team and would have qualified for an Academic Achievement (Alston) award under the criteria established by their schools for qualifying for such an Award any time between April 1, 2019 and September 15, 2024. The Court has not decided this case in favor of either side.
The Court will hold a Final Approval Hearing to decide whether to approve the settlement. The hearing will be held both in person and remotely. Instructions for remote access will be available on the Court’s PACER site at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov and below. The hearing will be held in person at:
Where: Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA 94612
When: April 7, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.
The date and time of the Final Approval Hearing may change without further notice to the class. You should check this settlement website or the Court’s PACER site at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov to confirm that the date and time has not changed.
Case: Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association et al., Case No. 4:23-CV-01593
Judge: Claudia A. Wilken
The Court has directed the parties to provide this notice about the proposed settlement. Because the settlement of a class action decides the rights of all members of the proposed class, the Court must give final approval to the settlement before it can take effect. Payments will be made only if the Court approves the settlement.
You don’t have to attend the Final Approval Hearing, but you may at your own expense. You may also ask the Court for permission to speak and express your opinion about the settlement. If you wish to speak at the hearing, you must file a written objection that states that you would like to speak at the hearing. More information about how to file an objection is below under Frequently Asked Question 17. If the Court does not approve the settlement or the parties decide to end it, the settlement will be void and the lawsuit will continue.
The Defendants (NCAA and Power Five Conferences) have agreed to pay $200,000,000 into a settlement fund. This money will be divided among class members who competed between 2019-2022 (according to a Distribution Plan) and will also be used to pay for costs and fees approved by the Court, including the cost of administering this settlement and awards to the class Representatives for their help in the lawsuit.
Members of the settlement class will “release” their claims as part of the settlement, which means they cannot sue any of the Defendants or their member institutions for the same issues in this lawsuit. The full terms of the release can be found in the Settlement Agreement, which you can access under the Court Documents tab of this website.
You are likely part of the settlement if: you competed on a Division I athletic team between April 1, 2019 and September 15, 2024 and would have met the requirements for receiving an Academic Achievement Award under the criteria established by your school for qualifying for such an Award.
You are not part of the settlement if: you released your claims and participated in the In re NCAA Grant-in-Aid Cap Antitrust Litigation, and/or you are an officer, director, or employee of one of the Defendants or you are the staff or immediate family member of the judge in this case.
Your payment depends on whether you played on Division I athletic team between 2019-2022, the years that you played, the number of academic years you would have qualified for an Academic Achievement (Alston) award at your school, the number of claims filed, and the amount of money the Court approves for costs, fees, and awards, as well as other factors. Only class members who met the requirements for an academic achievement award of their school during the academic years 2019-2020 through 2021-2022 will be eligible to receive payments under the Settlement.
Settlement class members who update their contact information and preferred payment method under the Claim Your Share tab of this website and/or submit a Claim Form (if one is required), and are eligible, will get a payment on a pro rata basis based on the number of people who submit a Claim Form. More information about whether you are required to submit a claim form and about how to submit a claim form is below under Frequently Asked Questions 11 and 12. Any payment you are entitled to will be paid out yearly over a ten-year period with equal amounts paid each year.
If you received two notices by email and/or mail, records indicate that you are included in both this settlement and the NIL, scholarship limits, and athletic participation settlement (aka In re: College Athlete NIL Litigation, Case No. 4:20-cv-03919). You may be eligible to receive money from both settlements.
Go to the Claim Your Share tab of this website to file a Claim Form in this settlement and in the In re: College Athlete NIL Litigation settlement, if required, for you to receive all the money you qualify for.
You have four options.
|
Submit an eligible Claim |
Opt out |
Object |
Do Nothing |
Can I receive settlement money if I . . . |
POSSIBLY |
NO |
YES |
NO |
Am I bound by the terms of this settlement if I . . . |
YES |
NO |
YES |
YES |
Can I pursue my own case if I . . . |
NO |
YES |
NO |
NO |
Will the class lawyers represent me if I . . . |
YES |
NO |
NO |
YES |
If you want to receive money, you must update your information by clicking HERE, and/or submit a completed Claim Form if one is required by January 31, 2025.
If you competed between 2019-2022 on a Division I team in a Power Five Conference (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC), or on a Division I Basketball team in the Big East Conference, then you are eligible for a payment under the Settlement and must click HERE to update your contact information and preferred payment method to receive payment.
If you competed on any other team in Division I between 2019-2022 that was not a Division I team in a Power Five Conference or a Division I Basketball team in the Big East, then you must submit a Claim Form online or by mail by January 31, 2025 to show that you qualify for a payment under the Settlement. Claim Forms may be submitted online HERE,
In a class action, the court appoints class representatives and lawyers to work on the case and represent the interests of all the class members. For this settlement, the Court has appointed the following individuals and lawyers.
Your lawyers: Steve Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn LLP. These are the lawyers who negotiated this settlement on your behalf.
If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
Lawyers' fees and costs will be paid from the Settlement Fund. You will not have to pay the lawyers directly.
To date, your lawyers have not been paid any money for their work or the expenses that they have paid for the case. To pay for some of their time and risk in bringing this case without any guarantee of payment unless they were successful, your lawyers will request, as part of the final approval of this settlement, that the Court approve a payment of up to 20% of the $200 million Settlement Fund total in attorneys’ fees, plus the reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses. These fees will be paid out over ten years so they are aligned with any payments you will receive.
Attorneys’ fees and expenses will be awarded only if approved by the Court as a fair and reasonable amount. You have the right to object to the lawyers' fees even if you think the settlement terms are fair. The lawyers' motion for attorneys' fees and costs will be filed with the Court and posted on the settlement website by March 3, 2025.
Your lawyers will also ask the Court to approve a payment of up to $50,000 to the Class Representatives for the time and effort they contributed to the case. If approved by the Court, this will be paid from the Settlement Fund.
You can opt out. If you do, you will not receive payment and cannot object to the settlement. However, you will not be bound or affected by anything that happens in this lawsuit and may be able to file your own case.
To opt out of the settlement, you must mail a letter to the Settlement Administrator at the address below postmarked by January 31, 2025. Your letter must include
(1) your name, (2) your current address, (3) your NCAA EC ID number if available, (4) a sentence stating, “I want to opt out from the class in Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et al., Case No. 4:23-cv-01593-CW,” and (5) your signature.
Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 301134
Los Angeles, CA 90030-30113
If you disagree with any part of the settlement (including the lawyers' fees) but don’t want to opt out, you may object. You must give reasons in writing why you think the Court should not approve the settlement and state whether your objection applies to just you, a part of the class, or the entire class. You may also request in your objection to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. The Court may (but is not required to) permit you to speak at the Final Approval Hearing if you request to do so in your objection.
The Court will consider your views. The Court can only approve or deny the settlement — it cannot change the terms of the settlement. If the Court denies approval, no settlement payments will be sent out, and the lawsuit will continue. If that is what you want to happen, you may object. You may, but don’t need to, hire your own lawyer to help you.
To object, you must send a letter to the Court or file electronically at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or file in person at any U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California location that:
- is postmarked or submitted online by January 31, 2025;
- includes your full name and address
- includes your NCAA ECID number if available;
- includes the case name and number (Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et. al., Case No. 4:23-CV-01593);
- states the reasons for your objection;
- states whether either you or your lawyer would like to speak at the Final Approval Hearing and your lawyer's name (if you have one); and
- includes your signature.
Mail the letter to:
Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building & United States Courthouse
c/o Class Action Clerk
1301 Clay Street
Oakland, CA 94612
Any objection to the proposed settlement must be in writing. If you file a timely written objection, you may be given the opportunity to, but are not required to, speak at the Final Approval Hearing, either in person or through your own attorney. If you speak through your own attorney, you are responsible for hiring and paying that attorney.
The Final Approval Hearing time and date are subject to change; please check this website to confirm the current status of the hearing.
To ensure you receive the payment you are entitled to, you will need to go to click HERE to confirm your contact information and preferred payment method, or fill out a Claim Form.
If you do nothing, you may not get any money, but you will still be bound by the settlement and its “release” provisions. That means you won’t be able to start, continue, or be part of any other lawsuit against any of the Defendants or their member institutions about the issues in this case. Please see the Settlement Agreement, which can be found under the Courts Documents tab of this website, for a full description of the claims and entities who will be released if this settlement is approved.
This notice is a summary of the proposed settlement. To get a copy of the settlement agreement or get answers to your questions:
- contact your lawyer (information below)
- visit the case website at www.collegeathletecompensation.com
- access the Court Electronic Records (PACER) system online at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov or by visiting the Clerk’s office of the Court (address below).
RESOURCE CONTACT INFORMATION Case Website www.collegeathletecompensation.com Settlement Administrator Hubbard v. National Collegiate Athletic Association
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 301134
Los Angeles, CA 90030-30113
[email protected]
1-877-514-1777Your Lawyers Steve Berman
Ben Siegel
Emilee Sisco
Stephanie Verdoia
[email protected]
(206)-268-9343
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
1301 Second Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA, 98101Jeffrey Kessler
David Greenspan
Jeanifer Parsigian
Neha Vyas
[email protected]
(212)-294-2658
Winston & Strawn LLP
200 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10166-4193Court U.S. District Court
Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building & United States Courthouse
1301 Clay Street
Oakland, CA 94612HOURS: 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays
PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT OR THE CLAIM PROCESS
A class action settlement is an agreement between the parties to resolve and end the case. Settlements can provide money to class members and changes to the practices that caused the alleged harm.
NCAA, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC
You are not eligible to participate in the settlement.
The school at which you competed should have your Eligibility Center ID. Contact a member of the athletics compliance found in the staff directory of the official athletics website.