NCAA Antitrust Lawsuit, Five Years In The Making, Begins In California Court

The NCAA will pay $20 million to some student football and basketball athletes who sued over the use of their likenesses in several Electronic Arts video games. The settlement was announced just hours before a trial began in another anti-trust lawsuit against the league, filed nearly five years ago by former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon, who raises similar issues regarding the use of student-athlete names and likenesses. The O’Bannon case, which began today in Oakland, California, is separate from the video game settlement case, and seeks an injunction to end the NCAA ban preventing student athletes from being paid for the use of their name, images or likenesses, claiming antitrust violations. It could impact other lawsuits filed against the NCAA, including the suit filed by high-profile sports labor attorney Jeffrey Kessler on behalf of athletes. That suitclaims the NCAA and the five major college sports conferences work together in “what amounts to cartel agreements,” illegally capping payments to athletes at the cost of a school scholarship while earning billions from their talent.