Appeals Court Rules NCAA Schools Only Need to Cover Cost of Attendance

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that while the NCAA must be scrutinized under antitrust laws, deferred compensation beyond the cost of attendance is not necessary for student-athletes.

Marc Tracy and Ben Strauss of the New York Times provided the details of the court's latest decision in the ongoing Ed O'Bannon case. The appeals panel stated that the NCAA "is not above antitrust laws" and must be tested under the Rule of Reason but ruled in its favor in terms of payments to student-athletes.

"In this case, the NCAA's rules have been more restrictive than necessary to maintain its tradition of amateurism in support of the college sports market," the panel wrote. "The Rule of Reason requires that the NCAA permit its schools to provide up to the cost of attendance to their student-athletes. It does not require more."

The New York Times report notes that the decision tosses out a proposal by a lower court judge, who suggested $5,000 per year in deferred compensation for athletes.

NCAA President Mark Emmert released a statement after the ruling was announced:

In January, Steve Berkowitz of USA Today highlighted a decision by the NCAA's five wealthiest conferences to start covering the full cost of attendance for student-athletes. That added transportation and miscellaneous personal expenses on top of traditional costs like room, board and books.

The change in approach had its critics, however. Jake New of Inside Higher Ed reported that some colleges started "sharply increasing the federally defined cost of attendance," which allowed them to pay more to athletes while providing "little if any additional funds" to other students at the school.

Those issues notwithstanding, Wednesday's ruling is a minor, but not complete, victory for the NCAA as it fights to maintain amateurism and limit the financial windfall available to student-athletes.

That said, the case is likely to continue, with previous comments from the NCAA's top lawyer, Donald Remy, suggesting it could head all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to Michael Marot of the Associated Press (h/t Yahoo News).