In early August, during the dog days of summer when sports were at a lull and everyone seemed to be concerned with missing flights, Ebola, and the hornet’s nest of the Middle East, a California judge handed down a landmark decision that was barely a whisper on our national consciousness. Sure, there were some words of congratulation and high-fives, a few articles and analysis, but within hours the media moved on to other stories. But the case of Ed O’Bannon v. NCAA will turn out to be one of the most important cases in sports history. With her 99-page ruling in favor of the plaintiff, former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, Judge Claudia Wilken cut the brakes on the NCAA’s long-standing ability to financially control its student-athletes, setting in motion a movement that will see the collegiate athletic association forced to relinquish its powerful grip, faltering and falling to its knees before our very eyes.
Thanks to Ed O’Bannon and this legal ruling, the NCAA will eventually be called to the carpet, forced to address how their money-making machine treats/exploits their student athletes. Granted, they’ll go kicking and screaming, but they’re systematic relationship with the students under their care will be exposed as antiquated and exploitative…and illegal.
But before I start slinging grand platitudes and praise, let me tell you how it all started. Back in 2009, O’Bannon, a smooth lefty scoring machine back in his college hoops days, was watching TV at a friends house when he saw a commercial for an EA Sports college basketball video game. There was a character in the game that was clearly O’Bannon – on the UCLA team, the same height, number, skin tone, and even shooting lefty. The irony – and insult – washed over O’Bannon. Here he was, fourteen years removed from graduating college after he won a championship for his Bruins in 1995, a middle-aged man who was selling cars in Nevada after a successful-if-not-spectacular career in the NBA as a professional athlete – and the NCAA still essentially had him under thumb. Someone was making money off him – the NCAA, EA Sports, and who knows who else, and yet O’Bannon had no rights or call for compensation under the current system. It made him angry, so he sought representation and filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for using his image in a video game without permission. The lawsuit that took 5 more years to come to light until Judge Wilken made her decision August 8th, the decision that will change everything.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association generates revenue from it’s games, teams, and tournaments. A lot of it – an obscene amount. They make it from ticket sales but especially television and cable contracts and licensing for merchandise and yes, video games.
In fact, the biggest NCAA college football programs bring in the lion’s share of revenue. The Texas Longhorns, a college football powerhouse, now brings in well over one hundred million dollars in revenue by itself every year. The top 8% of college football teams bring in the majority of revenue and the next most popular sport, college basketball, brings in about half as much, yet is still mega successful. March Madness, the frantic three-week college basketball tournament every year, brings in about 84% of college hoops revenue, at about $912 million last year. After football and basketball, the cupboards are essentially bare for revenue generating sports. So when we are talking about the mechanics of NCAA revenue and the issue of student exploitation, we’re really talking about college football and basketball.
Yet the NCAA doesn’t compensate these student athletes. Sure, “we give them scholarships,” they’ll say, and that much is true. But O’Bannon’s lawsuit brings the nature of amateurism and financial control into our crosshairs. If a college or the NCAA uses a student to make money – even above and beyond their performance on the field or the court – then why shouldn’t these kids be compensated? To date, the NCAA has held up a phony front of arguments that they are protecting these students, are worried about competitive balance being jeopardized, and even concerns for the integrity of the game. They claim they want to ensure college kids remain amateurs and aren’t overrun with agents, gamblers, and merchandisers. In reality, they prefer to enjoy that privilege themselves, locking up their athletes with no rights in their system of indentured financial servitude.
Thanks to Ed O’Bannon and this legal ruling, the NCAA will eventually be called to the carpet, forced to address how their money-making machine treats/exploits their student athletes. Granted, they’ll go kicking and screaming, but they’re systematic relationship with the students under their care will be exposed as antiquated and exploitative…and illegal.
But before I start slinging grand platitudes and praise, let me tell you how it all started. Back in 2009, O’Bannon, a smooth lefty scoring machine back in his college hoops days, was watching TV at a friends house when he saw a commercial for an EA Sports college basketball video game. There was a character in the game that was clearly O’Bannon – on the UCLA team, the same height, number, skin tone, and even shooting lefty. The irony – and insult – washed over O’Bannon. Here he was, fourteen years removed from graduating college after he won a championship for his Bruins in 1995, a middle-aged man who was selling cars in Nevada after a successful-if-not-spectacular career in the NBA as a professional athlete – and the NCAA still essentially had him under thumb. Someone was making money off him – the NCAA, EA Sports, and who knows who else, and yet O’Bannon had no rights or call for compensation under the current system. It made him angry, so he sought representation and filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for using his image in a video game without permission. The lawsuit that took 5 more years to come to light until Judge Wilken made her decision August 8th, the decision that will change everything.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association generates revenue from it’s games, teams, and tournaments. A lot of it – an obscene amount. They make it from ticket sales but especially television and cable contracts and licensing for merchandise and yes, video games.
In fact, the biggest NCAA college football programs bring in the lion’s share of revenue. The Texas Longhorns, a college football powerhouse, now brings in well over one hundred million dollars in revenue by itself every year. The top 8% of college football teams bring in the majority of revenue and the next most popular sport, college basketball, brings in about half as much, yet is still mega successful. March Madness, the frantic three-week college basketball tournament every year, brings in about 84% of college hoops revenue, at about $912 million last year. After football and basketball, the cupboards are essentially bare for revenue generating sports. So when we are talking about the mechanics of NCAA revenue and the issue of student exploitation, we’re really talking about college football and basketball.
Yet the NCAA doesn’t compensate these student athletes. Sure, “we give them scholarships,” they’ll say, and that much is true. But O’Bannon’s lawsuit brings the nature of amateurism and financial control into our crosshairs. If a college or the NCAA uses a student to make money – even above and beyond their performance on the field or the court – then why shouldn’t these kids be compensated? To date, the NCAA has held up a phony front of arguments that they are protecting these students, are worried about competitive balance being jeopardized, and even concerns for the integrity of the game. They claim they want to ensure college kids remain amateurs and aren’t overrun with agents, gamblers, and merchandisers. In reality, they prefer to enjoy that privilege themselves, locking up their athletes with no rights in their system of indentured financial servitude.
If the NCAA is making obscene amounts of money off their collective names, images and likeness, even decades after they played, why shouldn’t these kids get a cut? Despite the NCAA’s protests, it’s hard to make a moral or logical case for the status quo. But please note: this case isn’t a rally for colleges to compensate student-athletes. That is another ongoing lawsuit, prompted by injustices like when Shabazz Napier, star point guard who led his University of Connecticut Huskies to the 2014 basketball championship. Despite making his college and the NCAA millions, Napier reported that he’s had to go to bed hungry because his scholarship doesn’t even adequately cover the cost of living. Instead, the O’Bannon’s case is all about removing the restrictions on the money these athletes can receive for their own brand, so to speak.
Even thought Judge Wilken ruled for O’Bannon, citing that the NCAA violates antitrust laws, it is not a resounding victory. The ruling won’t affect student athletes until July 1, 2016, and she put a $5,000-above-scholarship cap on possible compensation. The NCAA will surely appeal the decision, but that will be extremely counterproductive to their cause - like lighting the fuse when they’re sitting on a powder keg. Once the case hits the Supreme Court – likely the final stop – the NCAA will be exposed for what it truly is, the O’Bannon win will be confirmed and expanded, and the floodgates of lawsuits about student-athlete compensation will open. And the NCAA will tremble and fall, deconstructing in their own greed.
While O’Bannon’s lawsuit is not the first against the NCAA – as far back as 1953 a U of Denver student took them to court for a worker’s compensation injury suit and in 2010, athlete Jason White led a group that won a $10 million settlement for capping scholarships – it will serve to be the most important, a tipping point. To his ultimate credit, O’Bannon understands that his case isn’t about him – it’s effect will be far more lasting.
“My motives aren’t greed,” says O’Bannon, “my motives are righting a wrong.” And thanks to this ruling, he’s about to teach the NCAA the ultimate lesson in just that.
While O’Bannon’s lawsuit is not the first against the NCAA – as far back as 1953 a U of Denver student took them to court for a worker’s compensation injury suit and in 2010, athlete Jason White led a group that won a $10 million settlement for capping scholarships – it will serve to be the most important, a tipping point. To his ultimate credit, O’Bannon understands that his case isn’t about him – it’s effect will be far more lasting.
“My motives aren’t greed,” says O’Bannon, “my motives are righting a wrong.” And thanks to this ruling, he’s about to teach the NCAA the ultimate lesson in just that.
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