The Supreme Court issued its decision on an important case regarding student-athlete compensation on Monday, and it didn’t go the NCAA’s way.
The nation’s highest court unanimously ruled against the NCAA in the case of the NCAA vs. Alston, stating that its strict rules limiting certain kinds of athlete compensation violate anti-trust laws.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the unanimous opinion, upholding the lower court’s ruling that the NCAA was acting unlawfully when it limited member schools from competing for the talent of athletes by offering benefits. Limiting schools from actually, truly competing hurt college athletes.
The ruling is fairly narrow and does not end amateurism in college sports. The NCAA is still allowed to forbid benefits that are not related to an athlete’s education. However, it allows for college athletes to receive education-based benefits like free laptops and paid post-grad internships.
The NCAA is not above the law’
Even though the ruling only affects education-based benefits for college athletes, it could have a much greater impact in the future. By denying the NCAA anti-trust protection, the Supreme Court opened the door for others to file anti-trust lawsuits against the NCAA. If more anti-trust lawsuits are filed, this searing quote from Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion doesn’t bode well for the NCAA.
Even though the ruling is limited, this whole Supreme Court process could not have gone worse for the NCAA. In late March it got roasted during oral arguments, with each of the justices taking shots at the NCAA like it was the world’s largest and least-challenging piñata.
Now it has not only lost, it lost unanimously, and both opinions were written by two of the court’s more conservative justices. As if that wasn’t enough, one of the opinions essentially called the NCAA’s business model “flatly illegal.” This may be just the beginning of the NCAA’s legal woes.
This quote from Justice Kavanaugh cuts deep: "Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing to not pay their workers a fair market rate on their theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate. The
NCAA is not above the law."— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) June 21, 2021
And here's the quote that could ultimately upend the NCAA model: "NCAA couches its arguments for not paying student athletes in innocuous labels. But the labels cannot disguise the reality:The NCAA’s business model would be flatly illegal in almost any other industry in America."
— Gabe Feldman (@SportsLawGuy) June 21, 2021
by Liz Roscher at YahooSports.com
FBO – RialtoTrojan
I second the view of all SC fans! Given what the NCAA did to SC (it was outrageous), what is now happening to that institution is well deserved! I always thought that the decision not to sue for the Reggie Bush sanctions was a massive mistake. I did not see the theory, but if SC had sued under the anti-trust laws (among other causes of action), its damages would have been in the hundreds of millions and those damages are trebled, plus legal fees. Given the proper management (first step is getting rid of Clay “The Cat” Helton and hiring… Read more »
Andy Staples (The Athletic): The Supreme Court didn’t just shut out the NCAA. It ran up the score… “Those of us who didn’t graduate from law school — which is most of us — may not have understood every nook and cranny of the decision the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Monday morning in NCAA v. Alston. But it’s safe to assume all of us who come to this sports website understand a shutout. “We know 9-0 isn’t merely a defeat for the NCAA and the schools that make up its membership. It’s an unapologetic, unrelenting ass kicking. It’s LSU… Read more »
Even that other corrupt sports institution, The International Olympic Committee, abandoned “amateurism” long ago. The NCAA still think it’s 1890s English Nobility countryside.
Left, Right and Center, all of Ameria can come together in unanimous disgust of the NCAA! A new day for college sports.
Boy, the NCAA sure done us USC people wrong. Any replacement for that organization, no matter how misguided, could ever be worse to USC than the NCAA was regarding their Reggie Bush prosecution, er…persecution.
Is Mark Emmertt the Clay Helton of the NCAA? Or is Helton the Mark Emmertt of coaches?
Jack Follman’s (sportspac12.com) 2021 Top 50 Pac-12 Football Players: 31-50 34. Isaiah Pola-Mao, Senior Safety, USC The tall rangy safety has been great the past two years. Pola-Moa was excellent in 2019 with four picks, and stepped up in 2020 as well, finishing with 40 tackles and an interception. 44. Kana’i Mauga, Senior Linebacker, USC Another player who had a great Pac-12 Championship Game in 2020. Mauga is a very active athlete who makes plays all over the field, and got better as the season went on last year. 48. Keaontay Ingram, Junior Running Back, USC (via Texas) The TEXAS transfer looks to be USC’s feature… Read more »
Going forward I wonder how this ruling affects recruiting. It’s clear the NCAA is losing its death grip on college sports. I have seen questions already about future penalties levied by the NCAA being upheald. For instance, ASU could be looking at penalties soon, but what if they litigate? What if they claim that the NCAA has no right dictating where high school students go on their own time. And that the school hosts students in other disciplines, so sports should be included. I can see the end of the NCAA coming. But I do not see an equal replacement.
@RialtoTrojan Wow. Interesting take. I hadn’t thought for a second that ASU could actually fight back and win on this alleged series of violations.
If you’re right, and ASU backs down the NCAA here (perfect timing I would say), I suspect that would be the source of unending despair for Trojan fans everywhere who will always wish USC took the NCAA to court in the first place over Bush.
Timing is everything, SC was 15 years to soon.