SCOUTING SERVICE TO PAY PENALTIES IN NEW YORK

The National Scouting Report Inc., one of the oldest college sports recruiting services in the country, has agreed to pay $20,180 in penalties, restitution and costs to the New York Attorney General’s Office for deceptive advertising, breaking state business laws and defrauding the families of student-athletes, the attorney general announced Thursday. “Preying on the hopes and aspirations of New York’s young, devoted athletes is incredibly cynical,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. “Students who are attempting to use their athletic promise to further their educational opportunities should not have to worry about being exploited by those seeking to make a profit, without any consideration for their success.” The attorney general’s findings concluded that NSR did not have a business license to operate in New York, that the company’s contracts with the athletes did not have the required notice that allows a three-day period to cancel, that NSR could not back up its various promotional claims, including those that said that 90% of student-athletes who used its service received athletic scholarships from NCAA, NAIA or NJCAA schools or that its recruiting service was resourced by more college coaches than all other recruiting services combined.

Rusty Rigby, NSR president, said his company paid the settlement costs because it became too expensive to fight the findings.