Brief for Sport Management Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Plaintiff-Appellee, O’Bannon V. NCAA (9th Cir. Filed Jan. 28, 2015)

Abstract

Amici are 18 professors of sport management at U.S. universities whose names, titles, and academic affiliations are listed in Appendix A. Amici have an interest in the proper development of antitrust jurisprudence in the context of intercollegiate athletics, and would like to respond to (1) certain factual assertions made in the briefs filed by the NCAA, and amici curiae in support of the NCAA, about the sport industry, including the products of NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Football and Division I (D-I) Men’s Basketball, and (2) the ethical foundation utilized in their briefs to support the Collegiate Model of Athletics in relation to FBS Football and D-I Men’s Basketball. In this Brief, Amici limit their positions to factual challenges to arguments presented by the NCAA and supporting amici that rely on the preservation of amateurism as a justification for restrictions on athlete compensation. Amici take no position on legal questions presented in the lawsuit, including the merits of the plaintiffs’ antitrust law claim and whether NCAA athletes have a right of publicity in the context of live game broadcasts or the licensing of broadcast rights.

Keywords: ethics, antitrust, O'Bannon v. NCAA