The year 2021 marked a watershed in the legal relationship between college athletes, their institutions, and the NCAA.
On June 21, the United States Supreme Court unanimously struck down NCAA rules restricting the amount of “education-related benefits” schools can provide to athletes.[1] A week later, the NCAA suspended its rules preventing athletes from profiting from their name, image, and likeness.[2] In September, the top attorney at the National Labor Relations Board issued a memo opining that certain college athletes are “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act, which could potentially give them the right to unionize and speak out about their “working” conditions.[3] Meanwhile, class action lawsuits asserting that collegiate athletes should share in television broadcast revenue and be paid a minimum wage are making their way through the courts.[4]
While most of the literature has focused on the normative question whether athletes should be paid for their services, this article explains these developments and identifies the practical issues they create for university attorneys and compliance officers.
The Game Changer: NCAA v. Alston
In NCAA v. Alston, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down decades-old NCAA rules restricting the education-related benefits schools can provide to athletes.
Before the decision, NCAA rules prohibited schools from providing athletes with financial aid beyond the “cost of attendance,” which generally included only tuition...
Rep. Eric Swalwell on Friday forcefully denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, saying in a public statement and a video posted to social media that the claims are false and politicall...