(On Behalf of All former UM football players from 1969-2015)
Hello and Welcome to the landing page for all potential class members in the class action lawsuit on behalf of former University of Michigan football players who played from 1969-2015 and wish to opt in (or opt out) of this class action lawsuit. At the bottom, we will tell you how to do so. A PDF of the Complaint (lawsuit) that was filed can be viewed here.
This lawsuit is a proposed class action. It will need to be certified by the Judge as such and that is to be determined in the near future. (See FAQ.) We will update this webpage with general information as the case proceeds. For now, the case has 4 class representatives with whom we will communicate privately regarding crucial decisions. They are pledged to make decisions in the best interest of the class and we as attorneys will of course do likewise. Now, understand why this lawsuit was filed.
This lawsuit was filed after the House v. NCAA settlement and only included former players who played after 2016. In our view, it was an arbitrary and capricious decision to limit the class to post-2015 players –they should have included former players from many years prior, for that is how long the NCAA, conferences, schools and networks have profited in the billions. Once upon a time, a scholarship was enough. You went to school, played ball (and played your heart out for your alma mater, injuries be damned) and in return you got a scholarship. Once upon a time college football was just a sport and rooted in amateurism. Of course, schools and the NCAA profited some, going back nearly 100 years, but nobody ever begrudged that. But then things began to change in the 1990s and what was once a simple sport became truly big business and everybody but the athletes themselves were able to profit off their own name. See, the only thing a college athlete has of value is their NAME. To profit off someone’s name without compensating that person—and we mean anyone, athlete or not–for their name is wrong. It’s unlawful. This is not a communist country. You compensate people fairly and equitably for their name. So now a scholarship was no longer enough to compensate players whose name, image and likenesses were used to sell jerseys, merchandise, and replay games nonstop on many platforms. This lawsuit seeks monetary compensation for lost NIL/endorsement monies for former players who lost out on same, as well as for the use of images on game replays and highlights on BTN and other platforms without compensating the former players who are repeatedly shown and off whom a huge profit is made. We are hoping to correct this injustice.
Sincerely,
Jim Acho
Ethan Vinson
Kevin Campbell
Our law firm and Jim Acho specifically have been involved in 2 of the largest sports class actions in U.S. history and are widely respected for their successful work representing former athletes. Messrs. Acho, Campbell and Vinson have nearly 100 years combined litigation experience. Our firm turns 60 years old in 2025 and is respected across the country. More about the lawyers and our law firm is here:
If you played football and lettered at Michigan from 1969-2015 and wish to opt in as a class member of this lawsuit (or opt out if you so choose, though it isn’t necessary) please contact Daniel El-Sibai at MichiganFootballLawsuit@gmail.com.
Please do not contact Jim Acho, Ethan Vinson, or Kevin Campbell at the law firm website, as we set this site up specifically to handle this lawsuit. The emails are voluminous, the amount of work that goes into a class action lawsuit is tremendous and this is a better way for us to manage it. Thank you.