UNC tennis star Brantmeier settles with NCAA for $2 million over pre-college prize money rules

University of North Carolina women’s tennis star Reese Brantmeier has won a significant legal victory off the court, with the NCAA agreeing to a $2.02 million settlement and a sweeping overhaul of its prize money rules in a class action antitrust lawsuit she spearheaded, according to an April 29 report by the Raleigh News & Observer.

The proposed settlement was filed on April 28 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, the newspaper reported. Brantmeier and co-plaintiff Maya Joint, both tennis players, brought the lawsuit on behalf of current and former NCAA Division I athletes in numerous individual sports, arguing that the NCAA’s restrictions on accepting pre-enrollment prize money violated federal antitrust law.

Under the settlement’s terms, the NCAA agreed to eliminate all restrictions on college athletes’ ability to accept prize money prior to their initial full-time collegiate enrollment — a change that took effect February 25 and applies across all sports, not just tennis. The NCAA will also be permanently barred from reinstating those rules. The N&O reported the estimated present value of future pre-enrollment prize money that athletes can now retain is approximately $14.8 million.

The case has personal roots for Brantmeier. Before enrolling at UNC in 2022, she earned nearly $50,000 in prize money at the U.S. Open but forfeited it to maintain her college eligibility. She was ruled ineligible for the fall of her freshman season while the NCAA disputed whether her U.S. Open expenses met its criteria for reimbursable costs. As previously reported by the N&O, the case could affect as many as 12,000 athletes who competed in Division I tennis since March 19, 2020, or who were unable to compete because of prize money restrictions.

Brantmeier told the N&O in December that the lawsuit was driven by a desire to ensure future athletes don’t face the same choice she did.

“I’m hoping that another girl who comes in behind me, who is in my shoes — hopefully we have that top level of talent playing in college,” she said. “I want girls playing the U.S. Open and then going to college. That’s incredible. People want to pursue their education. They shouldn’t have to choose between earning money that is rightfully theirs and pursuing education.”

She acknowledged the legal fight has been difficult but said she believes it will do lasting good.

“I think when I truly feel like I have a joy and a purpose in what I’m doing, I’ll always be able to find the energy for it,” Brantmeier said.