NCAA continues to fight off lawsuits concerning players as employees. Here's an update on the current proceedings.
What is the Johnson case?
Filed by former Villanova football player Trey Johnson, this case argues that college athletes fit the definition of an employee and have been denied rights that are protected in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Those rights include making a minimum hourly wage and overtime pay.
Plaintiff's attorney Paul McDonald said his goal is to give athletes the same kind of rights that fellow students who take tickets or sell concessions to their games have when they are working for the university.
NCAA has won other similar cases
The 9th Circuit and 7th Circuit courts have both ruled that college athletes are not employees protected by FLSA law. Those cases (Dawson v. NCAA and Berger v. NCAA) concluded in 2019 and 2016, respectively.
But the ground is shifting and it only seems to be a matter of time before NCAA falls completely apart and amateurism is a thing of the past.
The Supreme Court's decision in the Alston case -- especially Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurring opinion -- opened the door to viewing the NCAA in the same light as other entertainment industry groups rather than an academic-focused institution, which makes every legal challenge the organization has faced since then a larger potential threat.
There are other cases similar to Johnson, but they're taking slightly different avenues; National Labor Relations Board and Antitrust. NCAA goes so far as to compare prisoners and College athletes not being employees of their respective institutions. Not a good look but they're using it as an example of "special circumstances."
NCAA is hoping it's new President, former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, with his DC connections can help them get congressional legislation passed that codifies their arguments against athletes as employees.
Seems to me without Congressional, antitrust exemptions it's just a matter of time before the NCAA collapses and Collegiate sports becomes full blown pro/minor leagues. Which would then be interesting the spinoff that could occur i.e. non revenue sports and Title IX? Could revenue generators be setup outside the college structure and go around some legal requirements? I don't know, obviously there's a lot of money at stake and if I know anything people fight tooth and nail to keep as much as they can.
What do you think the future of the NCAA is? Collegiate sports? Amateurism? Will there be legislation to save NCAA? ...
