SEC Files Lawsuit Against LSU As School Plans On Playing Professional Athletes

Interesting college sports, louisiana state university, southeastern conference admin September 4, 2026 0 Comments

SEC Files Lawsuit Against LSU As School Plans On Playing Professional Athletes

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) filed a lawsuit Thursday against Louisiana State University (LSU) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

The lawsuit alleges that LSU is violating the conference’s First Amendment right to expressive association by disregarding conference rules that prohibit athletes who have entered professional sports from returning to compete in college athletics.

The lawsuit named LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin, President Wade Rousse, Athletics Director Verge Ausberry, and the LSU Board of Supervisors; it was filed as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and other individuals testified in a separate injunction hearing in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, state court. (RELATED: Native American Investor Allegedly Conned Out Of $2.5 Million By Emmitt Smith In Solar Farm Deal)

During Sankey’s testimony at the hearing, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers focused on the federal lawsuit. A buzz ran through the courtroom following the revelation, with only a few people reportedly aware of the lawsuit beforehand.

“The SEC has endured and thrived for nearly a century because its members have adhered to that common set of rules, which each member institution, and every coach at those institutions, has agreed to follow,” said the federal lawsuit from the SEC, per ESPN.

“Among the most fundamental of those rules are the longstanding provisions that prohibit individuals who have entered a professional draft, signed professional contracts, or been rostered on a professional athletics team from returning to compete in college athletics (the ‘Professionalism Rules’).”

The SEC is requesting a preliminary and permanent injunction from the federal court “prohibiting the defendants from violating the conference’s First Amendment rights by compelling the conference to associate with conduct that is contrary to the Conference’s purpose and mission.”

The conference is also requesting a preliminary and permanent injunction “barring Defendants from seeking to deter, coerce, prevent, or punish the Conference for exercising its First Amendment rights.”