7 states file lawsuit against the NCAA over transfer restrictions

[HFCS]

Politicians need to stop involving themselves in this. All they are doing is further breaking an already broken system.

I bet they’d do quite a bit better on a quiz about football than a freshman level science exam or any med school test.

 

[Letterkenny]

They'll argue that they're restricting their eligibility. And since the NCAA has an effective monopoly over the path to a professional career, antitrust laws come into play.

It's hard to argue that college sports is a path to a professional career when college sports is now THE career for most athletes.

It's been a long time since playing in college was the only path to the NBA for basketball players.

 

[CycloneWanderer]

It absolutely is their problem. The Sherman Antitrust act doesn't care if they chose to be a monopoly or if the monopoly developed organically. "It's not our fault that we're a monopoly" is not a winning legal argument.

And whether or not another entity could possibly be formed, isn't really relevant. Just because something could potentially exist, doesn't change the fact that athletes can incur harm, now, when surch an alternative doesn't exist.

That's lazy AF.

If it's a monopoly, then action to break it needs to involve the entire system and consider where the money is. If State AG's wanted to put an end to this, they should be engaging with the NFL to create a viable alternative. The money to fix the problem isn't on the amateur side - many NCAA athletic departments aren't self-sustaining even with football money. The money to solve the problem is in the NFL. If you want a minor league, that's who you need to go after.

 

[jbhtexas]

Honestly, I think the players should be suing the professional leagues to change that, but I can understand that the NCAA is an easier target.

Yes, the players most certainly should be suing the pro sports leagues (the real ones limiting their advancement and career options), but they probably feel it isn't smart to sue the sugar daddies they eventually want to get paid by.

If the NCAA wants to survive, at some point real soon they are going to have to stand up for themselves, get some shark lawyers, and take on this "monopoly" argument in court, or the lawsuits like this are just going to keep coming. They should have done it on the NIL deal.

 

[cycloneG]

Yes, the players most certainly should be suing the pro sports leagues (the real ones limiting their advancement and career options), but they probably feel it isn't smart to sue the sugar daddies they eventually want to get paid by.

If the NCAA wants to survive, at some point real soon they are going to have to stand up for themselves, get some shark lawyers, and take on this "monopoly" argument in court, or the lawsuits like this are just going to keep coming. They should have done it on the NIL deal.

I believe the Supreme Court ruling on NIL was a signal to the NCAA that these antitrust lawsuits have merit. It was a 9-0 decision which is pretty rare these days!

 

[Mr Janny]

That's lazy AF.

If it's a monopoly, then action to break it needs to involve the entire system and consider where the money is. If State AG's wanted to put an end to this, they should be engaging with the NFL to create a viable alternative. The money to fix the problem isn't on the amateur side - many NCAA athletic departments aren't self-sustaining even with football money. The money to solve the problem is in the NFL. If you want a minor league, that's who you need to go after.

That's not how it works, though. The states are attacking a monopoly through the legal system, which is how this is supposed to go. The court system will rule if the NCAA's practices violate the Sherman Antitrust act or not, and the outcome will determine the course forward. But there's no onus on the states or anyone who is claiming harm because of this rule, to create an alternative to the accused monopoly.

 

[Candide]

That's lazy AF.

If it's a monopoly, then action to break it needs to involve the entire system and consider where the money is. If State AG's wanted to put an end to this, they should be engaging with the NFL to create a viable alternative. The money to fix the problem isn't on the amateur side - many NCAA athletic departments aren't self-sustaining even with football money. The money to solve the problem is in the NFL. If you want a minor league, that's who you need to go after.

Honest question, why would the NFL spend any time or resources on creating a minor league when they have one for free?

 

[Mr Janny]

Yes, the players most certainly should be suing the pro sports leagues (the real ones limiting their advancement and career options), but they probably feel it isn't smart to sue the sugar daddies they eventually want to get paid by.

If the NCAA wants to survive, at some point real soon they are going to have to stand up for themselves, get some shark lawyers, and take on this "monopoly" argument in court, or the lawsuits like this are just going to keep coming. They should have done it on the NIL deal.

That's the kind of attitude by the NCAA that got us here. No giving in. Eyes closed. Fingers in ears. Clinging to a dying model.

 

[CloneJD]

Best solution IMo is for schools to go to a contract model which locks in athlete benefits and athlete commitments for multiple years.

 

[jbhtexas]

That's the kind of attitude by the NCAA that got us here. No giving in. Eyes closed. Fingers in ears. Clinging to a dying model.

That maybe so, and perhaps the NCAA is destined to die. But it shouldn't die because the government is sticking its nose in where it doesn't belong, and basing rulings against the NCAA on some faulty notion of a monopoly, that if it does exist in some form, has really has been created by the professional sports leagues.

 

[cycloneG]

Best solution IMo is for schools to go to a contract model which locks in athlete benefits and athlete commitments for multiple years.

Schools could try it but other schools would use it against them in the recruiting process.

 

[CydeofFries]

Four years and four schools and "on track to graduate". LOL. Why not unlimited eligibility, why stop at four years and the five to play four? The one freebee transfer seemed like a big plus for students and don't think the sit out for a 2nd is all that onerous.

If this was pre-pay-to-play I won't care but now it's just pure play to pay, not transferring because of "happiness" for the big football and basketball elites and the elite wannabees.

If forcing them to sit out is anti-trust, "arbitrarily" limiting it to 4 years of eligibility surely is.

Which is why college athletics desperately needs the professional sports anti trust exemption (at least football and basketball probably more/all), otherwise they will cease to exist in anything resembling their current form.

 

[Mr Janny]

That maybe so, and perhaps the NCAA is destined to die. But it shouldn't die because the government is sticking its nose in where it doesn't belong, and basing rulings against the NCAA on some faulty notion of a monopoly that really has been created by the professional sports leagues.

Again, it doesn't matter how the monopoly came to be. It exists, and is subject to all applicable laws. And if any of their practices violate those laws, and inflict harm on citizens, it's absolutely the government's job to step in, investigate, and bring the appropriate action.

 

[jbhtexas]

Best solution IMo is for schools to go to a contract model which locks in athlete benefits and athlete commitments for multiple years.

Then the mantra will be that the monopolistic NCAA is forcing student athletes to sign contracts.

 

[CloneJD]

Again, it doesn't matter how the monopoly came to be.

That’s not true. You need anticompetitive conduct under the Sherman Act. The fact of a monopoly alone is not a sufficient claim.

 

[CloneJD]

Schools could try it but other schools would use it against them in the recruiting process.

Are you under the impression everyone is running around with 1 year contracts in the professional leagues?

 

[cycloneG]

Are you under the impression everyone is running around with 1 year contracts in the professional leagues?

Free agency lets them seek out the best deal!

 

[Mr Janny]

That’s not true. You need anticompetitive conduct under the Sherman Act. The fact of a monopoly alone is not a sufficient claim.

Which is exactly what these states are alleging. And what the NCAA has been ruled to have been doing previously, see the Alston/Grant in aid cap decision

 

[CloneJD]

Free agency lets them seek out the best deal!

Yeah, so does recruiting and the transfer portal.

 

[cycloneG]

Yeah, so does recruiting and the transfer portal.

Exactly, why lock yourself into a "long-term" deal right out of high school when you can play for a year and get a better deal the following year?