Oral arguments in the appeal of O’Bannon v. NCAA are
being held today in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals beginning at
4pm Eastern. The NCAA is attempting to
overturn District Court Judge Claudia Wilken’s August ruling that the current
limit on funding via scholarships is a violation of antitrust law. Her ruling is set to affect student-athletes
enrolling after July 1, 2016.
The Power Five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12,
and SEC) have each decided to provide student-athletes with the full cost of
attendance, and it is expected that the Group of Five conferences (American
Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt) will
follow suit.
The NCAA contends in its appeal that Judge Wilken erred by
not following the 1984 ruling in NCAA v. Board of Regents, 485 U.S.
85, which stressed the amateur status of student-athletes.
Audio of the argument will be available here: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/
The filings for the appeal may be found here: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/content/view.php?pk_id=0000000757
For further analysis of the District Court ruling, see: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/o-bannon-decision-could-open-door-to-significant-changes-collegiate-athletics; http://chronicle.com/article/What-People-Are-Saying-About/148341/