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As madness moves through March, SCOTUS considers NCAA case over athlete compensation
Mark Walsh, ABA Journal
On one level, NCAA v. Alston is a thorny case about which level of antitrust scrutiny to apply to some rather arcane and ever-shifting rules on scholarships and other forms of education aid that colleges may provide to student-athletes. On another level, it is potentially consequential to a larger debate that has reverberated from campuses to courtrooms to Congress in recent years about the definition of amateurism in intercollegiate sports and whether athletes deserve more compensation.
Colleges cut sports to save money amid the pandemic. Then came the Title IX lawsuits.
Molly Hensley-Clancy, The Washington Post
While an outcry has erupted in recent days over wide gaps in the NCAA's treatment of male and female athletes at its basketball championships, a fight over similar gender disparities in college athletic departments is playing out in courthouses and on campuses across the country. The Iowa case is one of several high-profile lawsuits filed in the wake of cuts to college sports programs across the country, many supposedly fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. Some are ongoing; others have already forced colleges to reverse course.
Abilene Christian estimates its NCAA Tourney run is worth $100 million
Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
This is the only place where the inane financial logic of college athletics makes sense, and why schools all over the United States pour tens of millions into their respective football and men's basketball programs. All of these small schools that sit on the fringe pray for the type of run ACU has put together since 2019.
---Morning Consult
Ma
- Jim Nantz signed a new multiyear deal with ViacomCBS Inc. that will keep the acclaimed broadcaster at CBS Sports for an undisclosed number of years, according to both CBS Sports and Nantz's agent Sandy Montag. Nantz, who has been the voice of the NFL, golf including the Masters and college basketball during his 35-year stint at CBS, is reportedly believed to be making $6.5 million a year under his deal expiring this spring, and was rumored to be considering a move to another network after CBS signed his NFL partner, Tony Romo, to a deal paying him $17.5 million a year. (Sports Business Journal)
- The NCAA retained civil rights lawyer Roberta A. Kaplan to conduct a review of its championship events for gender equity amid public criticism of disparities between the facilities, meals, gifts and coronavirus testing provided to participants in its men's and women's basketball tournaments, and NCAA President Mark Emmert said that he hoped Kaplan's team would complete its preliminary work in late April, and that it would issue a final report this summer. The charges of gender inequity have drawn the attention of Congress, a troubling development for the NCAA as it seeks federal legislation governing the compensation of athletes for the use of their names, images and likenesses while protecting its amateurism model. (The New York Times)
- Startup media outfits The Athletic and Axios are in early-stage discussions about a potential merger as part of a plan to build a larger online publishing company that could go public via a subsequent deal with a SPAC, according to people familiar with the matter. Alex Mather, chief executive of The Athletic, reportedly approached Axios CEO Jim VandeHei about the potential merger roughly a week ago, and the plan under consideration would see The Athletic and Axios continue to operate independently. (The Wall Street Journal)
- The Canadian government is expected to reduce the quarantine period for NHL players traded from American teams to Canadian teams to seven days with extra testing prior to the league's April 12 trade deadline, according to a government source who indicated that all provinces that house NHL teams have approved the measures. The current 14-day quarantine period imposed by the Canadian government amid the COVID-19 pandemic was seen as a potential impediment to teams seeking to make cross-border trades. (CBC News)
As madness moves through March, SCOTUS considers NCAA case over athlete compensation
Mark Walsh, ABA Journal
On one level, NCAA v. Alston is a thorny case about which level of antitrust scrutiny to apply to some rather arcane and ever-shifting rules on scholarships and other forms of education aid that colleges may provide to student-athletes. On another level, it is potentially consequential to a larger debate that has reverberated from campuses to courtrooms to Congress in recent years about the definition of amateurism in intercollegiate sports and whether athletes deserve more compensation.
Colleges cut sports to save money amid the pandemic. Then came the Title IX lawsuits.
Molly Hensley-Clancy, The Washington Post
While an outcry has erupted in recent days over wide gaps in the NCAA's treatment of male and female athletes at its basketball championships, a fight over similar gender disparities in college athletic departments is playing out in courthouses and on campuses across the country. The Iowa case is one of several high-profile lawsuits filed in the wake of cuts to college sports programs across the country, many supposedly fueled by the coronavirus pandemic. Some are ongoing; others have already forced colleges to reverse course.
Abilene Christian estimates its NCAA Tourney run is worth $100 million
Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
This is the only place where the inane financial logic of college athletics makes sense, and why schools all over the United States pour tens of millions into their respective football and men's basketball programs. All of these small schools that sit on the fringe pray for the type of run ACU has put together since 2019.
---Morning Consult
Ma
