The U.S. Supreme Court this morning said that it will not consider the Ed O'Bannon antitrust case against the NCAA, which became a "test about the legality of the NCAA’s limits on what top-level football and men's basketball players can receive for playing college sports and for the use of their names, images and likenesses in live television broadcasts, rebroadcasts and video games," according to Berkowitz & Perez of USA TODAY. Both sides had asked the justices to "hear the case." Today's decision leaves intact the 9th Circuit's dual rulings that NCAA regulations are "subject to antitrust scrutiny, and rules limiting football and men's basketball players to receiving tuition, fees, room, board and books violate antitrust laws." Also, antitrust law "requires that schools be allowed to provide these athletes with scholarships that cover all of their costs of attending college, including travel and personal incidentals, 'it does not require more,' such as what it termed 'cash sums untethered to educational expenses.'" The Supreme Court's decision means that the NCAA will have to "continue its fight" against the $42.3M in attorney's fees and costs that U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has "awarded to the O'Bannon plaintiffs' legal team." The NCAA has "appealed the award to the 9th Circuit." Had the Supreme Court taken the O'Bannon case and "reversed the finding of an antitrust violation," lead plaintiffs' attorney Michael Hausfeld acknowledged that the award "would have been eliminated" (USATODAY.com, 10/3). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Eriq Gardner notes besides questions related to the "interpretation of antitrust rules and procedure, the NCAA asked the high court to consider whether the First Amendment protects against realistic portrayals of persons in expressive works like videogames." The Supreme Court decided that it could "potentially tackle the First Amendment issues under a different vehicle." The case will now "likely go back to the district court level to address the 9th Circuit's guidance" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 10/3).
