Background
Cortez Braham Jr. and Tatuo Martinson began their college football careers at junior colleges in 2019 and later transferred to NCAA Division I schools. After completing the five calendar years permitted under the NCAA’s Five-Year Rule, each sought a sixth year to play in the 2025 season.
In separate Nevada federal suits, the players alleged that counting junior-college enrollment toward the NCAA’s five-year eligibility limit violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Each district court preliminarily enjoined the NCAA from enforcing the Five-Year Rule and its Rule of Restitution against the player. Both players competed during the completed 2025 football season, and the NCAA appealed.
The Court’s Holding
The Ninth Circuit dismissed the consolidated appeals as moot. The preliminary injunctions expired with the 2025 season, and the players’ collegiate football careers had ended, so the court could not grant the NCAA effective relief.
The NCAA did not establish that the capable-of-repetition-yet-evading-review exception applied. The relevant inquiry is party-specific, and the NCAA did not show that Braham or Martinson was reasonably likely to face the same eligibility dispute again. The prospect of similar suits by different student-athletes was insufficient. The court also vacated the district courts’ injunction orders under Munsingwear.
Key Takeaways
- An appeal from a preliminary injunction generally becomes moot when the injunction expires and no effective relief remains available.
- The capable-of-repetition exception requires a likely recurrence involving the parties before the court, not merely future litigation against the same defendant by others.
- When mootness prevents appellate merits review, the Ninth Circuit may vacate the underlying orders under Munsingwear.
Why It Matters
The decision leaves unresolved the merits of the players’ antitrust challenge to the NCAA’s Five-Year Rule. It emphasizes that time-limited college-athlete eligibility injunctions may evade appellate review only in circumstances that satisfy the narrow, party-specific mootness exception.