The University of Cincinnati is suing Brendan Sorsby, accusing the former Bearcats quarterback of breaching his name, image and likeness contract following his transfer to Texas Tech.
The university filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Wednesday.
According to the lawsuit, Sorsby signed an NIL agreement in July 2025 covering the 2025 and ’26 seasons and that there would be a $1 million buyout if Sorsby transferred, payable within 30 days. Sorsby announced on Dec. 15 that he was entering the transfer portal and announced on Jan. 4 that he would be attending Texas Tech.
Sorsby received the most lucrative deal of the portal period — a reported $5 million — to return to his home state for his final season.
“Cincinnati Athletics is proud to partner with its student-athletes and honors the contractual commitments it makes to them. We expect student-athletes and their representatives to do the same,” the university said in a statement. “In his lucrative NIL agreement with Cincinnati Athletics, Brendan Sorsby committed to stay and play for two seasons as a proud Bearcat representative. He also agreed that if he left the university before that time, he would pay the university a specific amount for the substantial harm that his breach would cause. Cincinnati Athletics intends to enforce that contractual commitment.”
Sorsby’s agent, Ron Slavin, said pursuing legal action against his client is misguided and that Sorsby intends to fight the lawsuit and any resulting damages.
Sorsby passed for 2,800 yards, 27 touchdowns and five interceptions last season. He also ran for 580 yards and nine TDs. The Bearcats started 7-1 before losing their final five games.
Slavin said Sorsby was paid $875,800 by Cincinnati under its revenue-sharing structure for the 2025 season.
“In that time, he generated millions in value for the program. Attempting to recover those funds now sends the wrong message to current and future student-athletes and risks damaging the long-term credibility of Cincinnati football,” Slavin wrote in an email. “This is further disappointing given that Brendan parted ways with UC in what was a mutually agreeable manner. The money the university seeks to recover from him is nothing more than an unlawful penalty under Ohio law.”
This is at least the third case this year in which a school has sought a legal remedy related to an NIL deal with a quarterback.
Duke sued Darian Mensah were engaged in a legal fight until reaching a settlement last month. Mensah signed a two-year contract in July 2025 before he led the Blue Devils to their first outright Atlantic Coast Conference title since 1962. A judge granted Duke’s request for a temporary restraining order to block Mensah from doing anything beyond entering his name into the transfer portal until both sides came to an agreement.
Mensah ended up transferring to Miami.
Demond Williams Jr. had planned to transfer from Washington, then changed his mind two days later as the Huskies were preparing to file a lawsuit to enforce a buyout of nearly $4 million.
Sorsby began his career at Indiana before transferring to Cincinnati. In 35 career games, including 31 starts, he has passed for 7,208 yards and 60 touchdowns, along with 1,295 rushing yards and 22 TDs.
Sorsby and the Red Raiders, who won the Big 12 last season and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history, will play at Cincinnati on Oct. 24 during the university’s 100th homecoming celebration.
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