October 8, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
The National Collegiate Athletic Association may prohibit colleges from paying athletes a share of they money they gain from using the players’ images, a federal court ruled Sept. 30. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voided a lower-court judge’s proposal that the NCAA let colleges pay players up to $5,000 a year in deferred compensation for revenue gained from televised games, video games that use the players’ likenesses, and the sales of jerseys with players’ names on them.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by former University of California at Los Angeles basketball player Ed O’Bannon, who charged that the NCAA’s refusal to give players a piece of that income violated antitrust law. A three-judge panel held that the NCAA was “not above the antitrust laws,” but that in order to “maintain its tradition of amateurism,” players weren’t entitled to more than reimbursement for “the cost of attendance,” including travel costs and phone bills on top of tuition, housing, and meals. Read more
