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Supreme Court: “The NCAA is NOT Above the Law” While Ruling on Student Athlete Compensation
The United States Supreme Court has taken the first step in unraveling the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) “antitrust” status via a ruling on behalf of former student-athletes.
Justice Neil Gorsuch was the one who delivered the decision in favor of the litigants. Meanwhile, Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered a separate scathing opinion against the practices of NCAA.
According to Kavanaugh, there is no other place in the US “can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate.”
He added that “under ordinary principles of antitrust law, it is not evident why college sports should be any different. The NCAA is not above the law.”
Back in 2014, a number of student-athletes sued the NCAA for practices that were deemed antitrust. The ruling for it did not change rules against monetary compensation. However, it cleared the way for student-athletes to gain tangible items connected to their pursuit of academic studies.
According to a report by ESPN, the ruling can help put forward changes in college athletics. The Supreme Court ruling made on Monday sided unanimously of former student-athletes in a dispute against the NCAA regarding rules that limit certain compensation. SCOTUS ruled that the NCAA’s “education-related benefits that colleges can offer athletes who play Division I basketball and football can’t be enforced.”
Per Jeffrey Kessler, the plaintiff’s attorney, “It’s tremendous to win this 9-0. Hopefully, it will be the major next step on the road to a true fair competitive system for these athletes. It should have positive effects immediately on NIL [names, images and likenesses]. We look forward to a world that’s better for college athletes today than it was yesterday”
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