According to a story on ESPN.com, three former Division I athletes are suing the NCAA because of its rules limiting scholarships to tuition, room, board, books, and fees. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA’s limits violate federal antitrust laws.
The lawsuit, according to ESPN reporter Tom Farrey, claims that “”While big-time college sports have become a huge commercial enterprise generating billions in annual revenues, the NCAA and its member institutions do not allow student athletes the share of the revenues that they would obtain in a more competitive market…by denying athletes the benefits of competition, the [grant-in-aid] cap has imposed a lower standard of living and significant hardships on many student athletes.”
Periodically, the NCAA has discussed raising scholarship limits to cover the full cost of attendance, including travel to and from college, personal expenses, and other necessary items for college students. Colleges have argued, however, that doing so would be ruinously expensive for some colleges, particularly those with higher costs of attendance.
Practically every year, somebody files a lawsuit against the NCAA on antitrust grounds. Most of these are dismissed, but they are watched closely. If the NCAA were to lose a suit like this, the damages would run into the tens of millions of dollars and might force major changes in NCAA rules.
What do you think of this story? Do the athletes have a legitimate beef, or is the NCAA on firm ground in this lawsuit?
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