The corrupt system of denying payment to college athletes has officially ended.
On Friday, Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement of multiple antitrust class-action lawsuits that challenged the longstanding refusal of the NCAA and its members to compensate athletes.
The deal includes $2.8 billion in payments to players over the past 10 years along with payments to players moving forward.
This hardly ends the chaos currently consuming college sports. The major conferences have launched the College Sports Commission (which is different from the presidential commission that was under consideration for like a week) to regulate NIL collectives that have in many instances become pay-for-play programs.
Here’s the problem. Any collective action by independent businesses that restrict the earning capacity of the athletes potentially creates a fresh antitrust problem.
Friday’s settlement resolves (in theory) the manner in which the schools will directly compensate players. The NIL issue is separate.
And it should be open season, thanks to the American system of free enterprise. That’s why the colleges want the federal government to throw them a lifeline with legislation that would include an antitrust exemption.
The only truly effective solution would come from creating a nationwide union and negotiating rules regarding key issues like compensation limits and transfer rights. With that, however, the players would have the ability to secure protections against, for instance, unlimited padded practices and a year-round schedule of intense workouts that leave the players with very little time to themselves — especially relative to pro athletes.
So the settlemen isn’t the end. It’s more like the end of the beginning, with plenty more work to be done.
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