{"id":130953,"date":"2025-11-12T10:01:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=130953"},"modified":"2025-11-12T17:15:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T22:15:17","slug":"champion-women-and-advocacy-groups-file-amicus-brief-in-ninth-circuit-challenging-ncaa-settlement-that-entrenches-inequity-and-silences-athletes-voices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/champion-women-and-advocacy-groups-file-amicus-brief-in-ninth-circuit-challenging-ncaa-settlement-that-entrenches-inequity-and-silences-athletes-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion Women and Advocacy Groups File Amicus Brief in Ninth Circuit Challenging NCAA Settlement That Entrenches Inequity and Silences Athletes’ Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 12, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Champion Women<\/em><\/strong>, together with Wrestle Like A Girl<\/em><\/strong>, the Women\u2019s Golf Coaches Association<\/em><\/strong>, and the Women\u2019s Sports Policy Working Group<\/em><\/strong>,<\/strong> announced today that they have filed an amicus curiae brief<\/strong> with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in In re College Athlete NIL Litigation<\/em> (No. 25-4190). According to Liberty Law, Inc<\/em>., t<\/em>he filing supports a slew of objectors challenging the NCAA\u2019s proposed $2.8 billion settlement, arguing that it perpetuates systemic inequities, suppresses athlete compensation, and strips athletes, particularly women and those in Olympic and non-revenue sports, of fair representation.<\/p>\n

\"Logos
Image caption: Logos of organizations that filed the amicus curiae brief.<\/em><\/p>\n

The amici warn that the settlement is not the \u201chistoric breakthrough\u201d it has been portrayed to be, but rather is a deal that institutionalizes inequality<\/strong>. It binds nearly 400,000 current and former college athletes into one massive class action, negotiated by a single group of lawyers without independent or conflict-free counsel. Under the settlement, men\u2019s football and basketball players receive more than 95% of the settlement funds<\/strong>, while athletes in 42 other NCAA sports, representing the overwhelming majority of Division I competitors, share less than 5% of the paltry settlement but are required to release all of their legal claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not progress \u2014 it\u2019s the preservation of the same inequities that have defined college sports for decades,\u201d said Nancy Hogshead<\/strong>, Olympic gold medalist and founder of Champion Women<\/em>. \u201cThe NCAA and class counsel have created a settlement that looks like reform but, in reality, leaves women athletes and most college sports behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The amicus brief cites landmark Supreme Court precedents, Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor<\/em> and Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp.<\/em>, and the Third Circuit\u2019s recent Murray<\/em> decision, which all reaffirm that when class members have divergent interests, the law requires separate representation and conflict-free counsel. With 46 NCAA sports effectively competing for the same limited pool, the settlement exposes these conflicts, granting 95% of the proceeds to men\u2019s football and basketball while providing minimal relief to women and athletes in non-revenue sports. The amici argue that this structure violates established class-action safeguards and fails to deliver the fairness the law demands.<\/p>\n

Led by attorneys Gerson H. Smoger, JD., PhD.<\/strong> (Smoger & Associates<\/em>), Micha Star Liberty<\/strong> (Liberty Law, Inc.<\/em>), and David Arbogast<\/strong> (Arbogast Law<\/em>), the amici call for the Ninth Circuit to remand the case to the district court with instructions to require separate, conflict-free counsel and dedicated representatives for women athletes and other underrepresented groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue reform means every athlete, regardless of gender or sport, has an advocate fighting for their interests,\u201d said attorney Micha Star Liberty<\/strong>. \u201cThis case is a turning point \u2014 the Ninth Circuit has the chance to decide whether college sports move toward equality or remain entrenched in the same systemic imbalance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Champion Women<\/em>, Wrestle Like A Girl<\/em>, the Women\u2019s Golf Coaches Association<\/em>, and the Women\u2019s Sports Policy Working Group<\/em> joined forces in this filing to stand for fairness, representation, and equality in collegiate athletics \u2014 principles that must finally extend to every athlete, in every sport.<\/p>\n

The amicus brief was filed on November 10, 2025<\/strong>, and is available on the Ninth Circuit\u2019s docket for In re College Athlete NIL Litigation<\/em> (No. 25-4190).<\/p>\n

MEDIA CONTACT:<\/strong>
\nMicha Star Liberty
\nLiberty Law, Inc.
\nhttps:\/\/libertylaw.com\/<\/a>
\nMicha@LibertyLaw.com
\n510-645-1000<\/p>\n

MULTIMEDIA:<\/strong>
\nImage link for media: https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/25-1111-s2p-liberty-300dpi.webp<\/a><\/p>\n

Image caption: Logos of organizations that filed the amicus curiae brief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 12, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Champion Women, together with Wrestle Like A Girl, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, and the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, announced today that they have filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in In re College Athlete NIL Litigation (No. 25-4190). According to Liberty Law, Inc., the filing supports a slew of objectors challenging the NCAA’s proposed $2.8 billion settlement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10166,"featured_media":130945,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,12804,10,19301,30],"tags":[12889,7408],"class_list":["post-130953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-and-law-news","category-ap","category-california-news","category-oakland-business","category-sports-news","tag-college-athletics","tag-women-in-sports","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":1977,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130953"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130973,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130953\/revisions\/130973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}