Ninth Circuit Hears Oral Argument In O’Bannon V. NCAA

On March 17, 2015, a Ninth Circuit panel consisting of Chief Judge Sidley R. Thomas, Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee and Senior U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist, of the Western District of Michigan heard oral argument in O'Bannon v. NCAA (a case that this blog has covered here). In August 2014, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, of the Northern District of California, held that the NCAA's rules on "amateurism" – used to justify the organization's ban on compensation to college athletes – violate the antitrust laws by "unreasonably restrain[ing] trade in the market for certain educational and athletic opportunities offered by NCAA Division I schools."  The district court barred the NCAA from imposing rules preventing payment for use of athletes' names, images, and likenesses.  The ruling impacts student-athletes enrolled in school after July 2016. The NCAA appealed.