Historically, women in sports have not received equal treatment with their male counterparts, in terms of pay, recognition and a host of other metrics. Instead, women have had to forge their own paths against a constant tide of being marginalized in a male-dominated sporting society.

Eight current and former female college athletes are helping to blaze a path, using decisive legal action as they prepare to hand in their brief this month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2020, a group of student-athletes initiated litigation to oppose the long-standing NCAA rules that prohibited compensation for the commercial use of name, image and likeness; participation in broadcasts; and their athletic services.

In House v. NCAA, now In re: College Athlete NIL Litigation,[1] the group alleged that these restrictions constituted unlawful restraints on trade under the Sherman Act, a federal law designed to promote fair competition by prohibiting collusion and monopolistic practices.

Following a successful class certification and mediation, the parties reached a landmark $2.8 billion settlement in May 2024. This year, on June 6, this proposed settlement agreement received preliminary approval from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The approval triggered an objection period, and eight women challenged the settlement on the grounds that it did not fairly compensate women retroactively.

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