[PJMedia] On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violated the rights of student athletes by restraining their compensation. Specifically, the NCAA violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act by unduly restraining colleges from compensating student athletes.
The NCAA rules “depress compensation for at least some student-athletes below what a competitive market would yield,” thus violating their rights under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the syllabus for NCAA v. Alston (2021 explained).
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion for a unanimous Court, upholding the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurrence.
Gorsuch painstakingly went through each of the NCAA’s arguments, dismantling them, one by one. The NCAA argued that its compensation rules should not be subject to a “rule of reason” analysis because it is a joint venture to offer consumers the unique product of intercollegiate athletic competition. Gorsuch explained that the NCAA has monopoly power in the market, so it deserves no such deference. He also dismissed the NCAA’s argument that it should be exempt because it offers societally important non-commercial benefits. |