Explaining why the NCAA cannot use 'amateurism' as defense in court

As the NCAA faces numerous court cases that could shake up the landscape of the sport in the coming months and years, one argument the NCAA used to make no longer seems to be working. Amateurism has long been a shield for the organization, wanting to protect it to preserve the integrity of the game.

But, legally speaking, the footing on which to stand on that front is rapidly eroding.

Typically the NCAA has pointed to a 1984 case concerning TV rights as its standing on the amateurism claims, but in one of the latest developments, a judge has ruled that that case does not pertain to amateurism arguments.

“It’s exactly what you just said, he said that’s irrelevant here,” explained Michael McCann, a legal expert for Sportico, on the Andy Staples On3 show. “That case is about TV contracts. It has no bearing on college athletes. And the NCAA would repeatedly use that language. As you said, in a case that they lost, ironically, it was their best case. And here the court said, really just dismissed it quickly to say, ‘That’s irrelevant.'”

As the court system grapples over how to handle NIL and potential anti-trust issues governing the topic, getting a precise handle on all the legalese can be challenging.

But this came down in no uncertain terms.

“This isn’t about TV contracts between schools, conferences and the NCAA and TV networks, this is about compensation for college athletes,” McCann said. “In the Alston case in the form of reimbursement for education-related expenses. So for the court to so quickly and swiftly dismiss it, that had to be jarring for the NCAA.”

Time will tell which direction the NCAA goes from here, but preliminary indications are that the organization is fighting a losing battle.

At some point, the NCAA might just have to find some collective bargaining type of model that works for everyone or risk the entire system going bust.

This much is clear: The NCAA could use a win.

“The last decade has been so rough for their legal team and I don’t know where the window is for them,” McCann said. “I think to Charlie Baker‘s credit he’s at least proposed something that tries to resolve, tries to separate certain schools from others. I think that’s smart. I don’t know if it’s going to have any traction. As the NCAA says, it’s a membership organization. We’ll see what kind of persuasion he has.”