An appeals court upheld a previous ruling that the NCAA's strict model of amateurism violates antitrust laws, yet still granted the association a significant legal win.
A three-judge panel - Sidney R. Thomas, Jay S. Bybee and Gordon J. Quist - in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NCAA's limit on what schools can provide football, and men's and women's basketball players is too low, USA Today reported.
But the panel disagreed with another judge's previous decision to allow schools to provide those players deferred compensation. Judge Claudia Wilken, who presided over Ed O'Bannon's class-action antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, included in her ruling that schools could pay student-athletes in football and basketball up to $5,000 a year, which would be deposited into trust funds.
Though Thomas stated he would have concurred with the deferred compensation ruling, the panel ultimately struck it down. The three judges did, however, unanimously rule in favor of allowing schools to provide student-athletes with the full cost of attendance.
"The NCAA is not above the antitrust laws, and courts cannot and must not shy away from requiring the NCAA to play by the Sherman Act's rules," the panel wrote, according to CBS Sports. "In this case, the NCAA's rules have been more restrictive than necessary to maintain its tradition of amateurism in support of the college sports market. The Rule of Reason requires that the NCAA permit its schools to provide up to the cost of attendance to their student athletes. It does not require more."
Wilken is due to decide on Thursday whether or not to grant class action status to two lawsuits seeking to eliminate the limit for what schools can provide student-athletes. The appellate panel's decision may wind up being a blow to those lawsuits, especially since Bybee apparently referenced it in his opinion.
He wrote: "We have little doubt that plaintiffs will continue to challenge the arbitrary limit imposed by the district court until they have captured the full value of their [names, images and likenesses]."
