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Today’s Most Intriguing Non-TV Related Headline Comes From Bloomberg: ‘The Lawsuit That Could Bring Down the NCAA’

May 3, 2013  •  Post A Comment

Today’s most intriguing non-TV related headline is this one from a Bloomberg story: ‘The Lawsuit That Could Bring Down the NCAA.’

The piece is by Bloomberg View columnist Jonathan Mahler, who writes, "The storm that’s slowly rolling toward Indianapolis quietly gained strength this week with the filing of several devastating documents in a federal court in California. If it stays on course, it’s going to hit with biblical force, reducing the National Collegiate Athletic Association to a heap of rubble.

"This storm is also known as O’Bannon v. NCAA. It’s an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2009 by former UCLA All-American basketball player Ed O’Bannon and a handful of other ex-college athletes, who don’t think the NCAA should be profiting from their names and images without sharing the royalty payments."

The article continues, "In their latest filing, O’Bannon’s lawyers argue that the case deserves class-action status. If their request is granted, the NCAA would be liable for claims brought not just by the plaintiffs but also by all former athletes. Anyone who has ever played a Division I college sport would instantly be suing for damages for every instance in which his or her image was used in a video game, highlight reel, broadcast or rebroadcast.

"That could get pretty expensive for the NCAA. But if the case were just about a few billion dollars, the association would have settled by now. It hasn’t because O’Bannon and his lawyers are also asking for something else: They want all current and future college athletes to be able to make licensing deals of their own. It’s short yardage from there to the NCAA’s doomsday scenario: schools bidding for the services of student- athletes."

To read even more about this very intriguing case, we urge you to click on the link in the first paragraph, above, to read the entire article.

 

2 Comments

  1. It’s 1 thing to use there images for free when they are in college but when they leave, that should stop the NCAA from using there image without pay. The NCAA is too accustomed to driving at high speed down a one-way road with no checks or balance. It’s way past due that this be stopped.

  2. The NCAA is Big Business, period.
    To treat it any differently is stupid.
    The billions in and through it do not benefit STUDENTS nearly the way they should, considering the staggering amounts of money bantered about.
    Paying coaches millions, building and/or renovating stadiums and field houses for hundreds of millions for the convenience of alumni, are both part of the NCAA Monster.
    I enjoy college football and basketball as much as anyone, but the consortium it has become nationally must change.
    Peter Bright

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