Student Athletes Case Analysis

Because of all the controversy about paying college athletes, many court cases are beginning to arise due to former players realizing that the NCAA’s rules and guidelines are unfair. Two students on the Northwestern football team created a petition to be able to unionize and be compensated for their play, however, the National Labor Relation Board declined to give jurisdiction in their case (“N.L.R.B. Rejects Northwestern Football”). Although the board denied compensation for athletes, their reasoning avoided the main point of the case which was that college athletes are students first. William Goud, a former labor board chairman, thinks the student athletes have a strong case by claiming “the principle reason for that is their work -- they …show more content…
In the late summer of 2015, the appellate court in O’Bannon’s case granted a stay on last year’s ruling that the NCAA rule against athletes receiving compensation from video games and broadcast violated antitrust laws (Tracy, Marc, and Strauss). During the case, Federal Judge Claudia Wilkens ruled that universities allow coaches to offer players trust funds that they can access after they stop playing for the college, but the NCAA can limit the payments at $5,000 per year which cannot go into effect until the stay is lifted (Tracy, Marc, and Strauss); however, the stay grants the NCAA temporary amnesty for their rules, yet prevents them from allowing any colleges to provide athletes with any form of compensation due to their likenesses. This stay illustrates the complexity of O’Bannon’s case, and proves that a great deal of consideration needs to be acted upon before the court can rule against the case. Coaches are also beginning to see the need for a change in the amateur status of college athletes. At a post-game press conference “Steve Spurrier, the coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks football team…proposed that coaches start paying players $300 a game out of their own pockets. The coaches at six other SEC schools (Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, and Tennessee) all endorsed Spurrier's proposal,” (Branch). These college coaches may be aware of the unreasonable amount of money they make, and they believe that their athletes deserve a bonus. On January 17, 2015, the representatives from the NCAA’s Power Five conferences voted on permitting schools to compensate athletes beyond a scholarship, however, it is not a requirement for the universities (Dopirak). David Hart, the University of Tennessee’s Director of Athletics, expressed his gratitude about the development in the NCAA. Although