In ruling that the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. illegally restrained competition for top student football and basketball players, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken could have obliterated the last remnants of amateurism in major college sports. Happily, she didn't. Instead, her ruling Friday upheld the association's ability to limit the compensation paid to students during their collegiate years while also allowing athletes to benefit more from the fruit of their labors — for starters, by obtaining enough aid from schools to cover all the costs of going to college. It's a better balance. Now it's up to the colleges covered by the decision to return more of the money to the students who generate it.
The lawsuit, brought by former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, challenged the NCAA rule requiring student athletes to give up any claim to the revenue from television broadcasts, replays, highlight reels, videogames and any other use of their names, images or likenesses. Broadcasts in particular have been a cash cow for about 350 colleges and universities in the NCAA's top tier, generating billions of dollars in fees.
Wilken found that the association violated antitrust law by effectively fixing the price student athletes could command from the most desirable schools. She rightly dismissed the NCAA's spurious arguments that its limits on compensation promoted competitive balance, attracted more fans or helped integrate athletes into the student body. Those are all legitimate aims, but they're not served by barring students from receiving any of the licensing revenue...
An interesting question - despite the LA Times' attempt to find one - is whether there is a middle path in what has become a quasi-commercial activity, as any perusal of top coaching salaries will suggest.
It may not be possible to hold back the coming flood, now that a hole has developed:
In any event, you can expect more legal maneuvering:
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/08/12/ncaa-seeks-clarification-antitrust-ruling
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