Business & Finance
ACC joins other major conferences in banning former professional athletes
All four major college conferences have now acted to prevent former professional players from returning to college sports.
The short version
- The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) unanimously voted to ban former professional athletes from returning to play college football and basketball.
- The decision makes the ACC the fourth major athletic conference—joining the Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC—to adopt rules restricting professional players.
- The conference-level bans target athletes who declared for pro drafts, signed professional contracts, or appeared on professional rosters.
- It remains uncertain whether these conference-specific restrictions will face legal challenges or withstand antitrust scrutiny in court.
Key facts
- The ACC board of directors unanimously approved a resolution barring athletes who have declared for professional drafts, signed professional contracts, or appeared on professional rosters from competing in college football or basketball.[Associated Press]
- The ACC is the fourth major athletic conference to enact such restrictions, following similar decisions by the Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 over a three-day period.[Associated Press]
- The conference policies responded to legal challenges and uncertainty surrounding an NCAA rule change that granted five years of eligibility to future athletes.[Associated Press]
- The NFL announced that players who exit the league to return to college will not be permitted to rejoin the NFL during the same season.[Associated Press]
What remains uncertain
- It is unclear whether players or attorneys will bring antitrust or other legal challenges against individual conference rules rather than broad NCAA rules.[Associated Press]