{"id":1891,"date":"2021-09-30T13:28:08","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T17:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2022-10-24T16:02:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T20:02:46","slug":"the-big-business-of-amateur-athletics-developments-in-college-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bowditch.com\/campuscounselnewengland\/2021\/09\/30\/the-big-business-of-amateur-athletics-developments-in-college-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Business of Amateur Athletics: Developments in College Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a 10-day span at the end of June, major developments took hold on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (\u201cNCAA\u201d) that could have life-changing effects on its student-athletes.<\/p>\n

First, on June 21, 2021, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in NCAA v. Alston, a case in which current and former collegiate student-athletes alleged that the NCAA violated federal antitrust law by limiting the compensation they could receive in exchange for their athletic services.<\/p>\n

Under existing NCAA rules, institutions are generally allowed to provide tuition scholarships and to cover basic expenses like textbooks and room and board, but most other forms of compensation are banned.\u00a0 Following a bench trial, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered judgment in the athletes\u2019 favor with respect to education-related benefits, permanently enjoining the NCAA from limiting what education-related benefits member conferences and\/or schools can provide.\u00a0 The Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling upholding the District Court\u2019s decision, affirming that the NCAA cannot prohibit member schools from providing athletes with certain forms of education-related benefits, such as paid post-graduate internships, scholarships for graduate school, or free laptops or musical instruments.\u00a0 For now, however, the NCAA can continue to restrict benefits that are unrelated to education (such as cash salaries).<\/p>\n

That said, a second development paved the way for student-athletes to obtain alternative financial compensation.\u00a0 On June 30, 2021, the governing bodies of all three NCAA divisions adopted a uniform interim policy suspending NCAA name, image, and likeness (\u201cNIL\u201d) rules for all incoming and current student-athletes in all sports, providing the following guidance to college athletes, recruits, families, and member schools:<\/p>\n