Supreme Court to the NCAA: "You're morons."
The Supreme Court brought down the hammer on the NCAA today.
The NCAA has always had an impenetrable forest of regulations restricting athletes from compensation, including computers, internships, and study abroad. They don't actually care about this kind of compensation, of course, but any kind of compensation raises the possibility of opening the barn door to athletes actually getting paid for being employees.
The Supreme Court basically mocked the NCAA's position in a 9-0 decision. And for the first and probably only time in my life, I agree with Brett Kavanaugh:
"Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate," Kavanaugh wrote. "And under ordinary principles of antitrust law, it is not evident why college sports should be any different. The NCAA is not above the law."
Skewered.
This decision is not to be confused with pending NIL (name, image, likeness) changes, which are coming at rocket speed. But the ridiculous arguments about compensation will fall quickly now. The Overton window is no longer "Should college athletes be compensated?" but "How should college athletes be compensated?" That's a big deal.
I can't wait for how long it takes ESPN to trot out a coach's son/ex-athlete shouting that "a scholarship and the honor of representing the school" should be enough compensation for anyone.
Whatever, boomer.
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