The NCAA concussion litigation is really two different things — an approved $70 million settlement that pays for free brain screening (not injury cash), and a separate set of personal-injury and CTE cases with no global settlement. Confusing the two is the most common mistake, so here is the plain-English difference.
Screening Settlement Approved · Injury Claims Unproven
One part of this litigation — a medical-monitoring class settlement — has been approved and provides free brain screening, not compensation for injuries. The separate personal-injury and CTE claims described below are unproven allegations; the NCAA has not been found liable across those cases, and a recent Texas jury verdict (which the NCAA disputes and is expected to appeal) is one case, not a finding that binds the rest. This page is informational and is not legal or medical advice.
What Is This About?
For more than a decade, former college athletes and the families of deceased athletes have pursued the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) over concussions and their long-term effects, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head impacts. The litigation alleges that the NCAA knew about the risks of repetitive head trauma and failed to adequately protect or warn student-athletes.The single most important thing to understand is that "the NCAA concussion lawsuit" is not one case with one outcome. It is two separate tracks: a class settlement that provides medical screening, and a body of individual personal-injury cases that seek money damages. They cover different things, and only one of them has been resolved.
Track 1: The $70M Medical-Monitoring Settlement (Arrington v. NCAA)
The resolved track is a nationwide class-action settlement, Arrington v. NCAA, that was finally approved in 2019 (effective in November 2019). Under it, the NCAA funded a $70 million Medical Monitoring Fund, plus a separate $5 million for concussion research.Here is the crucial point: this settlement pays for screening, not for injuries. It provides free medical evaluations — designed to detect and diagnose the effects of concussions — to class members over a program that is meant to run for 50 years, with up to two evaluations per person. It does not pay cash for concussions, CTE, dementia, or a death.
The class is broad: essentially everyone who played an NCAA-sanctioned sport at an NCAA member school on or before July 15, 2016, and who did not opt out. No concussion diagnosis is required to register for the screening program. Registration and eligibility are handled through the official settlement website; there is no cash-claim form.
Track 2: The Personal-Injury & CTE Cases (MDL 2492)
When it approved the medical-monitoring deal, the court deliberately left the door open for personal-injury claims. Those cases — brought by individual former athletes with diagnosed neurological injury and by families of deceased athletes with CTE — are a separate track, consolidated in multidistrict litigation known as MDL 2492, In re: National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athlete Concussion Injury Litigation, before Judge Manish S. Shah in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Roughly 558 single-sport/single-school actions were pending there as of July 1, 2026.These cases have not been resolved, and there is no global settlement of the personal-injury claims. They have also become harder to pursue on a group basis: in March 2024, the court declined to certify an "issues class" for these claims, in part because the medical-monitoring settlement had released the ability to seek that kind of class treatment and because classes spanning many decades of athletes could not meet the requirements for a class action. The practical effect is that these personal-injury cases generally must proceed individually, athlete by athlete.
The $140M Davis Verdict — Important Context
In 2026, a jury in Dallas County, Texas returned a $140 million total verdict against the NCAA in Davis v. NCAA — reported as roughly $30 million in compensatory damages plus $110 million in punitive damages. The case was brought by the family of a former Southern Methodist University (SMU) football player who died after a long battle with CTE-related dementia, and it is believed to be the first CTE case against the NCAA to reach a jury verdict.Two caveats matter. First, Davis was an individual case in Texas state court — it was not part of MDL 2492, and it does not create an automatic payout for anyone else. Second, the NCAA has publicly said it disagrees with the verdict, arguing the case judged decades-old conduct by today's science, and it is expected to appeal. A single jury verdict, subject to appeal, is not a finding of liability that binds the other cases.
Who May Qualify?
• Medical-monitoring screening: if you played an NCAA-sanctioned sport at a member school on or before July 15, 2016, you are likely part of the class and can register for the free screening program through the official settlement website — no diagnosis required.• Personal-injury / wrongful-death claims: former athletes with a diagnosed neurological injury, and families of deceased athletes with CTE, may be able to bring an individual suit. There is no class-wide payout and no claim form; eligibility, deadlines, and whether a viable claim exists depend on the facts and should be reviewed with an attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an NCAA concussion settlement?
There is an approved medical-monitoring settlement, but it pays for brain screening, not injury cash. In the Arrington v. NCAA class settlement (finally approved in 2019), the NCAA funded a $70 million Medical Monitoring Fund, plus $5 million for concussion research, to provide free medical evaluations to former NCAA athletes. It does not pay money for concussions, CTE, dementia, or death. The separate personal-injury cases have no global settlement.
Who qualifies for the NCAA medical-monitoring settlement?
The medical-monitoring class covers essentially everyone who played an NCAA-sanctioned sport at an NCAA member school on or before July 15, 2016, and did not opt out. No concussion diagnosis is required to register for the free screening program, which is designed to run for 50 years. Registration is handled through the official settlement website.
What about personal-injury and CTE claims against the NCAA?
Those are separate. Individual and single-sport/single-school personal-injury and wrongful-death cases — alleging cognitive injury or CTE — are consolidated in MDL 2492 in the Northern District of Illinois and are not resolved by the medical-monitoring settlement. In 2024 the court declined to certify an issues class, so these cases must proceed individually. There is no global settlement of the personal-injury claims.
Was the $140 million NCAA verdict part of the MDL?
No. In 2026 a Texas state-court jury in Dallas County returned a $140 million total verdict against the NCAA in Davis v. NCAA, a case brought by the family of a former SMU football player who died with CTE. That verdict — reported as $30 million compensatory plus $110 million punitive — came from an individual state-court case, not from MDL 2492, and the NCAA has said it disagrees with the verdict and is expected to appeal.
Related Mass Torts & Sources
• AFFF firefighting foam PFAS lawsuit (MDL 2873) — another large personal-injury MDL.• All mass tort lawsuits — the full OCA mass-tort directory.
• All open settlements — settlements with claim windows still open.
Primary sources: NCAA.org materials on the Arrington medical-monitoring settlement; the official settlement website (collegeathleteconcussionsettlement.com); the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois MDL 2492 docket and the March 2024 issues-class ruling; and reporting from CBS Sports, ESPN, Courthouse News, Bloomberg Law, and NBC Sports on the settlement and the Davis verdict.
Important Disclosures
This page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute medical or legal advice. You should consult a qualified attorney about your individual situation. OpenClassActions.com is not a law firm and is not a claims administrator, and this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. The medical-monitoring program is administered by the court-appointed settlement administrator through the official settlement website.Free settlement alerts
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