In a June 12, 2014 TOTM post, I discussed the private antitrust challenge to NCAA rules that barred NCAA member universities from compensating athletes for use of their images and names in television broadcasts and video games.
On August 8 a federal district judge held that the NCAA had violated the antitrust laws and enjoined the NCAA from enforcing those rules, effective 2016. The judge’s 99-page opinion, which discusses NCAA price-fixing agreements, is worth a read. It confronts and debunks the NCAA’s efficiency justifications for their cartel-like restrictions on athletic scholarships. If the decision withstands appeal, it will allow NCAA member schools to offer prospective football and basketball recruits trust funds that could be accessed after graduation (subject to certain limitations), granting those athletes a share of the billions of dollars in revenues they generate for NCAA member universities.
A large number of NCAA rules undoubtedly generate substantial efficiencies that benefit NCAA member institutions, college sports fans, and college athletes. But the beneficial nature of those rules does not justify separate monopsony price fixing arrangements that disadvantage athletic recruits – arrangements that cannot legitimately be tied to the NCAA’s welfare-enhancing interest in promoting intercollegiate athletics. Stay tuned.