Six former East Mississippi Community College football players who appeared in the documentary series Last Chance U have sued the school, Netflix, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the documentary’s executive director in Los Angeles County Superior Court over their portrayal of the athletes. Plaintiffs John Franklin III, Ronald Ollie, C.J. Reavis, Deandre Johnson, Tim Bonner, and Isaiah Wright, all of whom played football at East Mississippi Community College in 2015 and 2016, allege the defendants wrongfully misappropriated their likeness and that they were not compensated for their work. In total, the plaintiffs are seeking $30 million in damages.
The popular documentary series aired on Netflix for five seasons, two of which focused on the lives of East Mississippi Community College football players. The plaintiffs claim they were pressured into signing agreements to appear on the show without having the opportunity to consult an attorney or even fully read the agreement. The players were allegedly told they would not be able to participate in practice if they did not sign the agreement, which would have essentially ended their football careers. The plaintiffs claim there was no real ability to negotiate the terms of the agreements and were never made aware that the documentary would be marketed for commercial use.
With respect to their likeness claims, the lawsuit further alleges that the school sold merchandise involving the players portrayed in the series but did not compensate the players for the proceeds earned from those merchandise sales. Three plaintiffs, Wright, Ollie and Franklin, claim the documentary portrayed them in a false light, which damaged their reputations.
While this is only the latest in a string of NIL-related lawsuits filed by former student-athletes, the Last Chance U lawsuit represents a growing trend of student-athlete plaintiffs who come from outside the ranks of revenue-generating Division I athletic institutions. The myriad of NIL-related lawsuits to date have primarily focused on seeking recompense from the schools, governing bodies (such as the NCAA), and conferences that reap the benefits of athletic performance in the form of lucrative television and other media contracts. This lawsuit is quite different in that it names a community college, as well as its media partner (Netflix) and an individual producer. As these lawsuits grow in number, so too will they grow in scope and creativity, and it seems clear that student-athletes will continue to push the envelope, especially in the wake of the NCAA settling lawsuits rather than litigating them, and consistently amending its rules to avoid further scrutiny.
Despite the NCAA’s best efforts, there does not appear to be an end in sight to the onslaught of NIL-related litigation, as schools and now myriad other types of defendants will continue to come under fire for allegedly denying student-athletes fair compensation, even dating back a decade, as we are seeing here with the Last Chance U lawsuit. It is likely the number and scope of NIL lawsuits will only continue to grow in the near future.
