Judge Nixes NCAA Players Antitrust Claims -- Case Not Over...Yet

[JerseySuave4]

Quote: Originally Posted by SECElite3

It is my understanding from reading posts of ex-NCAA players, they sign an agreement which protects the NCAA from lawsuits like this.

they are basically forced to sign a waiver which gives schools the right to use their likeness for life. I believe its part of the agreement when they sign up to play a college sport. Its so schools can use their pictures on programs, posters, etc. and they basically have to sign it.

I'm happy that EA can still use their likeness or something close to it instead of having to really randomize every thing because it would make it harder for the rosters people but i'm also not going to sit here and act like the player's point isn't valid.

[Dbrentonbuck]

Quote: Originally Posted by JerseySuave4

any reasonable person has to understand that the players are right for being upset about this. Is it money motivated? Of course, but it goes beyond just that. Ed O'Bannon is one of the main people suing the NCAA and video games because they used #31 PF for a classic UCLA team. Ed was no longer a college athlete, the model didn't look exactly like him, but you'd be a fool not to realize the player is based on him. Yes lots of players receive scholarships, but not every player. You wouldn't think it was fair either if people were making millions of dollars off you and you saw none of the profits. How many Florida #15 jerseys do you think the University sold while Tebow was there? And how much of those profits did he see? Yes he received a scholarship, to play football. The problem is they force these kids to sign a lifetime waiver saying that the NCAA can use their likeness forever.

And how many Jerseys did Tim Tebow sell before he played for an NCAA school? How many would he sell had he played for a club team instead of an official NCAA BCS school? Unless Tebow brought those tens of thousands of fans with him as a high school senior the the NCAA doesn't owe him a dime and he has no right to ask for it. He gained every ounce of popularity and marketability he has BECAUSE of the NCAA school he played for. He used the NCAA's relationship with media and television broadcast rights to build a brand for himself. The only way this argument holds any water is if the NCAA is taking already branded individuals with hundreds of thousands of fans before coming into the NCAA and exploiting them... they are not doing that... they have already built a brand that these kids are benefiting from.... the NCAA doesn't ask Tim to give them part of his product endorsement deals even though they are the ones who gave him the exposure to build a personal brand that he can make money on. If anything, they have a better legal case than he does.

[FedExPope]

No the point of NCAA isn't to get away with not paying players, its to avoid using generated rosters. I don't see how any judge would be able to side with those two douche bags at all. Look this discussion is NOT supposed to be about whether or not players should get paid at ALL for the amount of money they help generate. Its about this specific use of their likeness, which you can guarantee EA doesn't make half of what these universities make every year from football teams alone. This isn't the issue that should be brought up when we talk about college players not getting paid. Its small potatoes compared to how much they help generate for their universities. Now does EA have to pay the conferences for using their logos, and universities for using their names and details and unis etc.? If not, then HELL no the players shouldn't sue EA for using their likeness without paying.

[UniversityofArizona]

I feel like the scholarships should be converted into cash payments to the students that they can spend on getting an education or not. Forcing everybody in the entire market, and yes I do believe the NCAA is a trust, to accept something as payment that they may necessarily not want or need is by no means right. Hell huge percentages of these athletes never even graduate, and in essence end up providing a tremendous amount of labor for NOTHING. Athletes do not get a guaranteed degree, they get the opportunity to get a degree. If my boss forced me to sign an agreement when I went to work for him that said he didn't have to pay me except with the possibility of earning something in the future that may or may not help me earn more money in the future then I would be angry as hell especially if that employer had to the ability to block my entry into an entire field of work unless I agreed to do what he wanted, and was preventing me from making money in any other way to support myself in the meantime.

Degrees are only as good as what you make of them, and what employers value them at. If employers didn't value degrees then their value would be akin to giving a 4 year starter at Auburn a bag of potato chips for his services. If these degrees are worth so much then pay the players a comparable amount of cash, and let them decide if they want to spend that money on class, or if they want to spend it on a car while they play for said university.

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by UniversityofArizona

I feel like the scholarships should be converted into cash payments to the students that they can spend on getting an education or not. Forcing everybody in the entire market, and yes I do believe the NCAA is a trust, to accept something as payment that they may necessarily not want or need is by no means right. Hell huge percentages of these athletes never even graduate, and in essence end up providing a tremendous amount of labor for NOTHING. Athletes do not get a guaranteed degree, they get the opportunity to get a degree. If my boss forced me to sign an agreement when I went to work for him that said he didn't have to pay me except with the possibility of earning something in the future that may or may not help me earn more money in the future then I would be angry as hell especially if that employer had to the ability to block my entry into an entire field of work unless I agreed to do what he wanted, and was preventing me from making money in any other way to support myself in the meantime. Degrees are only as good as what you make of them, and what employers value them at. If employers didn't value degrees then their value would be akin to giving a 4 year starter at Auburn a bag of potato chips for his services. If these degrees are worth so much then pay the players a comparable amount of cash, and let them decide if they want to spend that money on class, or if they want to spend it on a car while they play for said university.

These kids are getting accepted into a school, not getting a job. They aren't employees, they are students. They are geting a free education because they are athletic, not because they are the smartest kids out there. Some guys like Ponder, the Duke roster, Stanford roster, are also smart and could probably go to a lot of schools for next to nothing off their smarts, but not your average player. A lot of these guys score low ACT scores that barely get them eligible, which is an 18, which is also an absolute joke. They should be required to score a 21, in my opinion.

Anyways, they're being accepted into school and you think the university should give them money to spend on an education or anything else they want? Ridiculous.

[UniversityofArizona]

What if they don't want the education but still want to play? Not everyone wants this almighty scholarship everyone keeps talking about. If players could play without getting the education, and instead getting a comparable amount of cash how many athletes do you think would take them up on that offer, and would abandon this ridiculous pretense that they are hard working students as well? There are plenty of players that are more than talented enough to play for the best teams in the United States yet they are prevented from doing so because they don't have the grades and of course there is no other organization that they can go to in terms of showcasing their talents and developing them, and you think we should make it even more difficult and remove even more opportunities from people by raising academic requirements on athletes who already could care less for the academics? Make it an option to take the scholarship or cash, and we will see just how happy athletes are about only being compensated with scholarships.

Also, I am not saying give them a scholarship and cash. I am saying give them the option. I don't even think athletes should even be required to attend the university as students to be able to play for the university under contract on a year to year basis. Coaches already screw universities and players over by leaving all the time. Let the players do likewise to coaches and universities. The universities already make more than enough money anyways so I don't feel sorry for their athletic budgets which do nothing to help the educational process in the first place.

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by UniversityofArizona

What if they don't want the education but still want to play? Not everyone wants this almighty scholarship everyone keeps talking about. If players could play without getting the education, and instead getting a comparable amount of cash how many athletes do you think would take them up on that offer, and would abandon this ridiculous pretense that they are hard working students as well? There are plenty of players that are more than talented enough to play for the best teams in the United States yet they are prevented from doing so because they don't have the grades and of course there is no other organization that they can go to in terms of showcasing their talents and developing them, and you think we should make it even more difficult and remove even more opportunities from people by raising academic requirements on athletes who already could care less for the academics? Make it an option to take the scholarship or cash, and we will see just how happy athletes are about only being compensated with scholarships.

If you want to play sports at a UNIVERSITY then you should have to meet academic requirements for that university. If you can't qualify academically, then you don't deserve to play there.

[UniversityofArizona]

Well then show me the developmental league that the NFL is too lazy to create to bring up their own talent. The athletes shouldn't have to do the whole shebang to play football in this monopolized to the limit sport. We don't require coaches to be taking classes at a university to coach there do we? The athletes are just as capable of playing for the university and representing the university regardless of their ability to take classes at the university. Requiring someone who is being brought into a university to play football to also attend class is like forcing somebody you brought in on an academic scholarship to also play sports.