Antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA

Title IX is a red herring in this discussion. It would be a cinch to distinguish/carve out revenue-generating sports and end the for-profit exploitation of these athletes.

 

I see the promoters of women's sports saying this a lot.

Other than granting athletes the right to sell their images to outside sources, how would it happen? I'm talking about the legal reasoning for cutting a check to some scholarship players and not others.

 

So ... why would it be different than cutting a check to a scholarship editor in chief of the student paper, for example, but not, say, first chair of the cello section in the student orchestra?

 

You'd know more about how this would play out in legal reasoning, but I think the clear gender line that would exist in athletics would be the big difference there.

I also think, as I've said previously, that schools are so beaten down by losing Title IX lawsuits that they aren't even going to try a concept that could potentially be litigated.

 

The reason why Title IX wouldn't matter (because the scholarship value stays the same):

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2014/02/04/when-it-comes-to-paying-college-athletes-is-title-ix-more-of-a-red-herring-than-a-pink-elephant/

The reason why it would (because there is unequal opportunity based on overall funding of athletics, especially if everybody isn't paid the same):

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6769337/title-ix-seen-substantial-roadblock-pay-play-college-athletics

Guaranteed that when that first stipend is handed out, if anybody gets more than the volleyball players, there are going to be lawsuits. These are still schools that receive federal financial aid, with all the rules that apply.

 

Nor are they going to compensate athletes without being forced through litigation, so it seems like lawsuits will fly either way. But since they have more to lose if athletes gain a share of the football and basketball loot, I'd guess they'll try the "because Title IX" defense.

 

To which the players then ask why, in the vast majority of cases, the men's basketball coach makes more than the women's.