NCAA Obtains A Vital Win On Antitrust Challenge Of Athletic Aid Rules

In a recent federal court decision, the NCAA obtained dismissal of a claim that certain rules governing athletic grants-in-aid violated the antitrust laws. The case, Rock v. NCAA, was led by three former student-athletes and challenged a series of NCAA bylaws restricting or prohibiting the grant of athletics-based financial aid. A federal judge in Indiana granted the NCAA's motion to dismiss, primarily on the basis that plaintiffs failed to identify a relevant market in which to analyze the alleged unreasonable restraint of trade.

The NCAA's ultimate success in this case is important to the institution given the host of recent legal challenges to the scope and use of its authority. A class action lawsuit in California federal court led by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon is set for trial next year over the NCAA's use of names and likenesses of student-athletes. On the opposite side of the country, a case brought by Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania