NCAA Age-Based Eligibility Rule Faces Antitrust Challenge - Varnum LLP

NCAA Age-Based Eligibility Rule Faces Antitrust Challenge - Varnum LLP

On June 23, 2026, the NCAA Division I Council adopted a new eligibility model that replaces the long standing “Four-in-Five Rule.” Two days later, student athletes filed a class action lawsuit in federal court challenging the rule as an unlawful restraint of trade under federal antitrust law. The lawsuit, Campbell v. NCAA, is one of many lawsuits filed that challenges specific features of the new rule and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief …