Student-athlete wins U.S. Supreme Court duel against NCAA

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with student athletes. They filed an antitrust challenge to the National College Athletic Association. This is a heavy ruling that may reshape More than 14 billion U.S. dollars American university sports industry.

The nine judges of the court unanimously agreed that the restrictions imposed by the NCAA on the education-related benefits of student athletes are unfair.

“By allowing colleges and universities to provide enhanced education-related benefits, [the lower court’s] The decision may encourage academic achievement and allow student-athletes to receive compensation measures that are more consistent with the value they bring to the school,” Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote in the court’s opinion.

In an agreed opinion, Judge Brett Kavanaugh questioned the NCAA’s practices more broadly, writing: “The NCAA’s business model is completely illegal in almost all other industries in the United States.”

This ruling is the most significant challenge to the American college sports business model. Its tradition can be traced back more than a century ago. In some cases, it is actually a talent pipeline for several top professional leagues (including football and basketball) in the United States. .

The NCAA and its member universities insist that maintaining the amateur status of participating athletes is essential to the attractiveness of college sports, but the judges found this argument unconvincing.

The court wrote in the summary of the case: “Universities and universities across the country use sports to increase income, attract attention, increase enrollment and raise funds from alumni.” “This profitable business relies on’amateur’ student athletes. They play under horizontal restrictions, which limits how the school compensates for their competition.”

The current NCAA rules effectively limit the types of compensation that athletes participating in member universities can receive scholarships or related benefits.

The current case is a mixture of several lawsuits filed by current and former college athletes against the NCAA, which argues that these rules violate the US Sherman Act.

Steve Berman, the lawyer representing the athletes in this case, said: “We hope that this victory for the rights of college athletes will set off a wave of justice and further improve the level of compensation for athletes.” It’s the fair treatment that college athletes deserve.”