NCAA To Allow Power 5 Conferences To Pay Players

[Russell Jaslow]

Because the settlement only changes the rules to allow for paying athletes at Power 5 schools. Everyone else is still operating under the old rules.

I get that. Kind of. I just don't see how this stops the lawsuits from those outside the Power 5.

 

[Still Eeyore]

I get that. Kind of. I just don't see how this stops the lawsuits from those outside the Power 5.

What stops them is the lack of revenue. Not in the sense that they couldn't pay the athletes if they really wanted to, whether that's true or not. But a significant component of the various lawsuits is that, after a century of litigation, the courts have finally recognized that revenue generation is a significant element in how big athletic departments are run. If a conference is making decisions based upon hundreds of millions of dollar in TV contracts, it firmly establishes them as a commercial enterprise.

Antitrust law, which is what these cases have been decided upon, regulates economic activity. Below the Power 5, the schools will have a much easier time arguing that their sports programs aren't run on a commercial basis. Hence, they would win cases where the Power 5 schools lost them.

 

[BadgerDad2022]

Not sure how this will all shakeout as I don't follow football all that much and it seems that is the genesis for much of this activity. Will be fun to watch though!

 

[Hockeybuckeye]

Antitrust law, which is what these cases have been decided upon, regulates economic activity. Below the Power 5, the schools will have a much easier time arguing that their sports programs aren't run on a commercial basis. Hence, they would win cases where the Power 5 schools lost them.

What you say makes sense but these days there's zero consistency in court rulings and how the law is applied and the appeal process seems endless. How many years will it take for any cases involving antitrust, Title IX or any others involving college athletes?