O'Bannon Case: NCAA Denied Expedited Hearing; Stops Selling Players' Jerseys and Team Memorabilia
ByAmid new developments in Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit against the NCAA, EA Sports and Collegiate Licensing Company, the college sports governing body has decided to stop selling various memorabilia items on its website, ESPN reported.
NCAA president Mark Emmert said on Thursday he acknowledged the sale of player jerseys and other team-related memorabilia items was a mistake. He also said he understood how it could be seen as a hypocritical.
On one front, the NCAA is currently investigating a report that Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel was improperly compensated for his autograph.
In a similar instance, Ohio State University is coming off a season in which they were banned from a bowl game because their players had been caught selling their autographs and official team gear for cash and other forms of payment.
The NCAA is also currently embroiled in a lawsuit filed by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon for using his likeness and name in video games and on memorabilia without compensating him.
All the while, at least until Thursday, the NCAA was profiting off these players' names and likenesses by means of sales on their own site. Jersey and memorabilia sales will continue on the schools' individual sites, but not on the NCAA's site.
"The business of having the N.C.A.A. sell those kinds of goods is a mistake, and we are going to exit that business immediately," Emmert, told reporters on a conference call. "It is not something that is core to what the N.C.A.A. is about. It probably never should have been in that business."
Also on Thursday, USA Today reported U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, who is overseeing the O'Bannon case, denied the NCAA's request for an expedited hearing and cancelled the Sept. 5 date.
The announcement came after all three defendants filed motions last week to be dismissed from the lawsuit. Wilken said she would rule on those motions and those of the plaintiffs. She is currently deciding whether or not to allow O'Bannon and the others who have and who wish to join the case pursue it as a class action suit.
When the case does eventually reach a resolution, or even begins for that matter, it is expected to have massive repercussions on the NCAA Division I athletes in major sports like football and basketball who currently are not allowed to be compensated in any way.
The NCAA shutting down its online memorabilia store is the second act of back-pedaling the association has done since it cut ties with EA Sports in its video game contract.
Schools will still sell player's jerseys, the NCAA will still profit on bowl games and TV deals, brokers will still make money on autographs and EA Sports will still develop college sports video games by trying to gain licensing from the schools instead of using the NCAA's trademark. Meanwhile, the players will have to wait for draft night to even hope to start making money.