Supreme Court Won’t Hear O’Bannon Case
By Ken Reed
The Supreme Court has decided to not consider the Ed O’Bannon antitrust case against the NCAA.
That decision leaves the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ dual rulings intact. According to USA Today, those dual rulings are the following:
— The NCAA’s regulations are subject to antitrust scrutiny, and rules limiting football and men’s basketball players to receiving tuition, fees, room, board and books violate antitrust laws.
— While antitrust law requires that schools be allowed to provide these athletes with scholarships that cover all of their costs of attending college, including travel and personal incidentals, “it does not require more,” such as what it termed “cash sums untethered to educational expenses.”
The Supreme Court’s decision is a blow for the cause of social and economic justice in college athletics. Nevertheless, Ed O’Bannon, his colleagues, and his legal team have improved conditions for college athletes.
Michael Hausfeld, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, added the following:
“While we would have liked the Supreme Court’s review, we remain pleased with our trial victory and the Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding the finding that the NCAA violated the antitrust laws and affirming a permanent injunction to remedy that violation, which enables NCAA member schools to offer college athletes significant additional funds toward the cost of attendance.”
Ed O’Bannon was on the right side of history. He was right when he filed his lawsuit in 2009 and he’s right today. He found it supremely unfair that the NCAA could profit from the use of college players’ names, images and likenesses in live television broadcasts, rebroadcasts and video games while the players received nothing. However, the fight for justice for college athletes isn’t over. Several other lawsuits are still pending. Fairness will ultimately prevail.
And when it does, the biggest thank you should be reserved for former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon, for his time and commitment to the cause.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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