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Colleges

O'Bannon Case Against NCAA Could Have Implications On Others Against NCAA

Despite the Ed O'Bannon case against the NCAA finally reaching an end after the Supreme Court decided against hearing the issue, questions "still hang in the air," according to Joe Nocera of the N.Y. TIMES. After six years, it might not seem like the O'Bannon case accomplished "all that much," but it may have an "enormous effect" going forward. It was the first case involving athletes "fighting the NCAA to gain any traction in court," meaning O’Bannon "reaped an enormous amount of publicity." Reporters and other observers began to examine the NCAA’s rules and "discovered what a small group of critics had been saying for years: Many of the rules were unfair, trivial and, in some cases, idiotic." This increased "scrutiny put the college sports establishment on the defensive." It also "began to make changes, at least on the margins, to improve the lot of college athletes." It also could impact two cases currently being heard" by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Claudia Wilken. Both cases are "aimed at overturning the NCAA’s amateurism rules." One case brought by former Clemson football player Martin Jenkins argues that the NCAA’s "compensation limits have no justification under antitrust law." The other case, brought by former West Virginia football player Shawne Alston, seeks "damages for all the years in which athletes weren’t compensated for the full cost of attendance, even though they were entitled to it, according to the O’Bannon ruling" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/4).

THE NEXT STEP: SI.com's Michael McCann wrote the legal argument brought by Jenkins’ plaintiffs is "straightforward," as they "contend that the NCAA and its member schools, conferences and affiliated organizations have unlawfully conspired to cap the value of athletic scholarships to tuition, room, board, books and fees." The proposed remedy would be that colleges -- which already compete for star high school athletes -- "compete in ways that financially benefit the players." Under the Jenkins model, colleges "would not be required to pay star athletes more than what the colleges already provide through athletic scholarships." However, colleges could "no longer 'conspire' with one another on a system where no school pays student-athletes in excess of athletic scholarships." Attorneys for Jenkins stress that while most colleges "claim to lose money on their athletics programs, it seems money is being made given the multi-million dollar salaries paid to coaches, as well as the construction of large new stadia and sophisticated training facilities." If Jenkins prevails, it would "upend the NCAA’s system of amateurism." O’Bannon’s victory at the Ninth Circuit, while more "muted in effect than he sought, can be used as precedent for Jenkins." At the same time, the NCAA "might use the O’Bannon decision to highlight the judicial reluctance to imposing sweeping changes to amateurism" (SI.com, 10/3).

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