NCAA amateurism is dead. Mayhem will fill the void [View all]

If you’re scoring at home, the NCAA still hasn’t been able to get a hit off of federal law. The judges continue to have a perfect game after the U.S. Supreme Court this week closed out an eight-year-long case with a profound rebuke of college sports’ prized illusion of amateurism.

As if more truth were needed to demonstrate the pervasive haplessness of the NCAA argument that amateurism is a virtue in a capitalist economy, the justices were unanimous in their decision that the cartel violated anti-trust law by agreeing among members schools how much each can compensate athletes for academic-related costs.

A 9-0 vote from this polarized court is as likely as getting Batman and The Joker to sit down for a beer and a laugh (Justice Brett Kavanaugh insisted on the beer).

Loss of the Alston v. NCAA case, named after the West Virginia running back who filed the suit in 2014, was no surprise, but the fact that the NCAA was willing to pursue the futility all the way to the nation’s highest court was a telling mark of its desperation to maintain its out-dated way of doing business.

Prominent sports attorney Michael McCann, writing for Sportico, explained that the ruling’s impact won’t be immediate but sets a precedent that forecloses future NCAA gambits in defending the indefensible.

https://www.sportspressnw.com/2249368/2021/ncaa-amateurism-is-dead-mayhem-will-fill-the-void