USC incoming linebacker Talanoa Ili joins lawsuit seeking to upend new NIL system
USC leaves the tunnel to play Georgia Southern, coached by none other than Clay Helton, on Sept. 6. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Ryan Kartje (LA Times) — The first serious legal challenge to the House settlement will come courtesy of a USC freshman linebacker.
Talanoa Ili, a 6-3, 225-pound linebacker/top-100 recruit in the Trojans’ vaunted 2026 class, joins Stanford quarterback Charlie Mirer as one of two lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit that takes aim at the system implemented since the settlement ushered in a new era of direct payment from universities to athletes.
The suit, which was filed Tuesday, accuses the NCAA, the Power Four conferences and the enforcement arm they created — the College Sports Commission — of participating in a “conspiracy” by creating a system of policies that have “direct anti-competitive effects, including the suppression of [name, image and likeness] compensation below competitive levels.”
Those policies, their attorneys argue, violate state laws in California that prohibit restrictions on NIL rights, as well as federal antitrust statutes. They’re seeking monetary damages, as well as an injunction that would upend the enforcement structure created to determine whether individual NIL deals over $2,500 meet criteria, including whether they have “a valid business purpose” or fall within a reasonable range of market value.
by the way — USC paid Lincoln Riley nearly $12 mil for the 2024 season when the Trojans finished a disappointing 7-6.
The clearinghouse, NIL Go, was created with the hope of eliminating an influx of booster-funded NIL deals that were basically direct payments from donors to the program. But since its inception, the system has been more restrictive and worked less efficiently than some schools and athletes might have hoped. As of last month, according to Yahoo Sports, more than $125 million worth of NIL compensation that had been promised to athletes had been rejected by the clearinghouse or was still under review.
In Ili’s case, the complaint states that he received a “substantial multi-year offer” from USC’s House of Victory collective in 2024 that led him to commit to the Trojans, only to have the offer disappear after approval of the House settlement. Ili chose USC over UCLA.
“Absent the NIL Restrictions on Direct Pay NIL Compensation, Ili would have received more for his NIL rights than he now receives,” the complaint states. “The Agreement has thus injured Ili.”
Mirer, meanwhile, claims that he has received no NIL compensation from Stanford’s collective or revenue-sharing money from the university since 2024 as a result of the settlement.
“The [CSC agreement] has suppressed, deterred, and effectively terminated the economic relationships that had produced his prior NIL compensation,” the lawsuit says.
Even the plaintiffs in the House settlement, which created the CSC, are in the process of challenging the current system. On Wednesday, plaintiff attorney Jeffrey Kessler will argue in a hearing that school-affiliated businesses such as multimedia rights holders or corporate sponsors, should not be subject to the CSC’s rigorous criteria for NIL deals. That decision could also open the floodgates, with schools using those entities to circumvent the cap.
Two U.S. senators are hoping to pass legislation they believe would bring more stability to college athletics and thwart legal challenges. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Texas) spoke with presidents and chancellors from the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday about a bipartisan bill, the Protect College Sports Act, which would codify some of the CSC’s policies into federal law.
latimes.com
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World Cup 2026 is here! Entering the 2026 World Cup, the AI consensus top five teams in the world are Argentina, Spain, France, England, and Brazil, though Portugal and Colombia are also in there. The USA ranks 12th, in their group D is 21 Turkey, 36 Australia and tonight’s opponent 26 Paraguay. The final match is July 19. That should take us just about to start of real football training camp! 🏈 ⚽
I couldn’t care less about soccer. What a boring game. They run up and down the field and hardly anyone ever scores. No wonder they yell out a loud long yell until they run out of breath when somebody does score. Hockey is the same way…..skate up and down the ring and stop only to punch someone out then skate up and down some more until the next pugilist outbreak and hardly anyone scores. If I want to see a fist fight I’ll go to a boxing match. I’m not crazy about Futbol but I do love football. JMHO.
I don’t usually ever watch soccer or follow it in the least. I don’t think many of us do. But it’s not every day the USA hosts a World Cup.
And I did happen to catch the first half of the USA vs Paraguay match and it just may have been the greatest half of soccer the Americans have ever played. We were perfect and lead 3-0 with another goal disallowed. Sofi Stadium is packed and so is the Coliseum which is hosting an official FIFA Fan Festival.
Lindy’s stuff on USC Scouting Report — “Jayden Maiava is the key to all of it. This is the year he’s got to show something real — not flashes, not a couple of explosive drives. I mean command. Command of the offense, command of the moment. Right now, I’m in the ‘wait and see’ mode with him… Defensively, I do think that bringing in Gary Patterson changes the temperature a bit. You’re talking about a guy who’s seen every offensive system you can throw at him. That alone should help them get more structurally sound. … They’ve got players. They’ve… Read more »
A sign of things to come?
Lindy’s didn’t name one single USC player to its Pre-Season AA teams, and neither did Athlon. USC was totally shut from each of the national 1st, 2nd and 3rd AA teams.
The Trojans also got pretty much dumped on big-time in the All-B1G teams, with absolutely no first team picks, only two 2nd teamers (PK Ryon Sayeri and DL Kameryn Crawford), and three 3rd teamers (QB Jayden Maiava, RB King Miller and LB Desmond Stephens).
Athlon didn’t select any Trojans to its 29-man All-B1G team and projects USC to finish 5th in the B1G.
I can understand Ili’s suit, it was agreed to before the House settlement came about. But it creates strange bedfellows. If ili’s suit was against USC as co-defendant, This would just be icing on the cake in the mess college football is in. What is on my mind, with this bill before Congress runs into party politics in senators demanding favors/perks for their support, it adds to how selfish and corrupt Congress is that ignores what is right thing to do. This Texas Tech judgement on a player maintaining his player status and the University claiming they are doing the… Read more »
College Football is looking less like college football everyday. Just wait the “Betting Quarterback” from TX will probably be placing a bet on the outcome of this latest NCAA debacle. Which begs the question; Why is there even an NCAA?
(Unless it stands for Neutered College Athletics Ability)