Minnesota Vikings’ defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd is the lead plaintiff in a federal antitrust lawsuit filed on Friday that accuses the NCAA and 11 conferences of fixing prices by capping the value of athletic scholarships.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in Minneapolis federal court on Friday. It is the latest in a surge of litigation that targets the NCAA.
According to the LA Times, it is at least the fourth lawsuit this year targeting the gap between scholarships and the actual cost of going to college.
The lawsuit cites studies that claim full-scholarship athletes often fall $3,000 to $5,000 short of what it costs to go to school and prevents athlete’s from making up the difference, The Associated Press reports.
The suit is seeking unspecified monetary damages. It is also seeking to prohibit the schools from engaging in “anticompetitive” rules.
This is 1st grants-in-aid case v NCAA to include both male & female plaintiffs (basketball player Ashley Holliday of Kennesaw State is one).
— Michael McCann (@McCannSportsLaw) April 25, 2014
The suit makes the case that Floyd and athletes like him make the universities large amounts of money, while the athletes are not compensated their market value thanks to caps on grants-in-aid to student-athletes.
According to the Bleacher Report, the former Gator may have an axe to grind with the NCAA. Floyd was suspended for the first two games of the 2011 season after taking improper gifts.
