Cincinnati has filed a lawsuit against former quarterback Brendan Sorsby that states the university is owed a buyout payment and that the Texas Tech transfer breached his contract with the school, according to court documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
The lawsuit, which was first reported by The Athletic, alleged that the Lake Dallas product violated a multi-season revenue sharing agreement with Cincinnati and owes the school a $1 million buyout payment.
Sorsby “negotiated and entered into an 18-month, two-season NIL agreement” with the university in July 2025, per court documents, and “promised to pay to the university $1 million in liquidated damages if he transferred to another university before completion of the agreement’s full term.”
His agency, LIFT Sports Management, called the pursuit of legal action against Sorsby “misguided” and said that it “sends the wrong message” in a statement shared with The News on Wednesday afternoon.
Sports Roundup
“Pursuing legal action against Brendan Sorsby is misguided,” the statement read. “University of Cincinnati, through its revenue-share structure, paid him $875,800 for a season he fully completed and 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. 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. Because UC has chosen to pursue this course of action, Brendan will aggressively defend the lawsuit and pursue any and all damages he incurs as a result of it.”
Sorsby officially entered the transfer portal on Dec. 15, five months after the lawsuit states he and Cincinnati negotiated the original agreement, and signed with Texas Tech on Jan. 6. He signed a name, image and likeness deal with Tech worth $6 million, a person with knowledge of the agreement confirmed to The News, which is believed to be among the largest since the House settlement allowed schools to pay athletes directly starting last July.
Related
He played two seasons for the Bearcats and was among the top-ranked players in the transfer portal this winter before he chose the Red Raiders over LSU, Miami and others. The lawsuit states that Cincinnati paid Sorsby a “substantial amount of license compensation” last season with the “expectation that it would realize the majority of the benefits during the following season, 2026, after Sorsby’s play developed and his brand grew.”
“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,” Cincinnati wrote in a statement shared with The News. “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. As stewards of the university’s resources, the athletics department has a duty to do so. We thank Brendan for his time at Cincinnati and wish him success in the future.”
Jacob Rodriguez reflects on ‘most gratifying part’ of Texas Tech stint amid NFL draft prepNCAA women’s basketball bracketology: Where are local teams projected in March Madness?
Find more Texas Tech coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.