O’Hagan Meyer partners Dana J. Finberg and C. Quinn Adams secured a significant early victory for their client, SBLive Sports Inc., in a closely watched federal antitrust lawsuit challenging California high school name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules. In a recent ruling, a California federal magistrate judge dismissed all claims against SBLive and other media-company defendants, finding that they had no role in creating or enforcing the challenged CIF rules and were merely contracting parties with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF).

The court further rejected large portions of the plaintiff’s antitrust case, including challenges to CIF’s amateurism and transfer rules, and agreed that the media defendants could not be held liable under the plaintiff’s legal theories. While the judge granted the plaintiff limited leave to amend the complaint as to alleged loss of NIL compensation by California athletes, the ruling represents a decisive win for O’Hagan Meyer’s client and significantly narrows the scope of the litigation going forward.

This case was recently featured in a Law360 article. To read more, click here: https://www.law360.com/articles/2428922/calif-judge-trims-antitrust-suit-over-high-school-athlete-nil