A nonprofit organization advocating for current and former college athletes has officially requested to retract a lawsuit against the NCAA, Pac-12, and Southern California that could have facilitated the formation of a players’ union. This decision comes from the National College Players Association, which previously filed the complaint on behalf of athletes at USC. On Friday, the organization highlighted that recent legislative developments in various states, combined with the NCAA’s new initiative allowing schools to compensate players directly starting this summer, prompted the reevaluation of their legal stance.

Under the settlement reached this past summer, larger schools are expected to have a revenue pool exceeding $20 million in the initial year, which will be allocated to athletes through a revenue-sharing model. Additionally, these athletes will still have the opportunity to negotiate deals regarding their name, image, and likeness with third parties.

Ramogi Huma, the founder of the NCPA, expressed in the retraction motion, “These new developments do not undermine the facts presented during the trial and cannot be deemed as evidence relevant to this case. Nonetheless, the NCPA believes it’s prudent to allow the college sports sector sufficient time to adapt to this new landscape before addressing whether football and basketball players hold employee status.”

Previously, another lawsuit initiated by Dartmouth men’s basketball players was dismissed on December 31, effectively halting their ambitions to become the first college athletes allowed to negotiate a contract. This step was taken to prevent a potentially harmful ruling from a National Labor Relations Board that would soon be under Republican control.