The National Collegiate Athletic Association and four states plus the District of Columbia have settled a lawsuit over the association’s rule prohibiting the use of name, image and likeness compensation in the recruitment of athletes, Sportico, ESPN and others have reported.

Attorneys general in Tennessee and Virginia filed the suit last February after the NCAA threatened to penalize the University of Tennessee at Knoxville for alleged rules violation. The lawsuit, which also included Florida and New York, argued that the NCAA’s NIL recruiting ban violated antitrust law by restricting the ability of athletes to benefit commercially from NIL deals.

The NCAA policy prohibits the use of NIL contracts as a recruitment incentive, meaning athletes cannot negotiate NIL deals with collectives or boosters—coalitions of alumni that raise money to pay athletes on behalf of individual institutions—before they commit to a college.

Judge Clifton L. Corker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a preliminary injunction barring the NCAA from enforcing these rules a month after the lawsuit was filed. That block was in place until the settlement was announced on Jan. 31. It now must be approved by Corker to go into effect.

“We’ve been fighting hard to protect Tennessee student-athletes,” said Tennessee attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti in a statement. “Last year, we blocked the NCAA’s unlawful enforcement against Tennessee students and schools, and now this settlement in principle lays the groundwork for a permanent solution.”

The outcome represents a blow to the NCAA’s authority over college athletics and could pave the way for a judge to approve the settlement in House v. NCAA antitrust litigation. If passed, the settlement would require the NCAA to pay $2.8 billion in back pay for the use of athletes’ NIL since 2016, as well as create a revenue-sharing model in which participating colleges would distribute a fifth of their annual revenue to their players.

On April 7, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken will hold a hearing to determine if the settlement is “fair, reasonable and adequate” before approving it, asking for more revisions or rejecting the deal.