Why Are the “Cardiac Pack” Suing the NCAA?

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | August 19, 2024 | William L. Anderson

[karpov]

Perhaps the most exciting NCAA men’s basketball championship game ever played was also one of the biggest upsets. The 1983 North Carolina State University Wolfpack, despite being heavy underdogs to the University of Houston, managed to sink a last-second basket to win 54-52 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The iconic nature of NC State’s victory has played well to audiences in the 41 years since, and the NCAA has used images of the game and its players in publicizing its highly popular tournament. That a heavy underdog NC State team made this year’s basketball Final Four only added to the 1983 team’s legend.

For many years, no one gave much thought to the NCAA’s use of State’s triumph, as the strict rules governing member teams and athletes gave the NCAA the rights to whatever players under its jurisdiction did. With a single lawsuit filed this past June, however, all that has changed.

As ESPN reported:

'Ten players from NC State’s 1983 national champion basketball team have sued the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company seeking compensation for unauthorized use of their name, image and likeness.'

According to the lawsuit:

'For more than 40 years, the NCAA and its co-conspirators have systematically and intentionally misappropriated the Cardiac Pack’s publicity rights—including their names, images, and likenesses—associated with that game and that [game-ending] play, reaping scores of millions of dollars from the Cardiac Pack’s legendary victory.'