In the trial about compensation for the use of images of amateur players of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, an expert witness for plaintiff Ed O'Bannon called the business model of the sports league anti-competitive, Bloomberg said.
Economics professor Roger Noll, who is testifying on behalf of the former college basketball player and lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, has continued his testimony from yesterday that the NCAA is a cartel that allegedly blocks competition. According to Noll, students should be able to market themselves to broadcasters and schools.
Noll also said that if students could license their names and identities, majority of them would opt for universities to negotiate group licenses on behalf of their teams. Noll also suggested in the trial that the schools then would be offering stipends based on the proceeds from the group licenses, and would later on use them as a way to attract some of the best talents.
Noll said that he NCAA's business model had restrained competition by taking control of the amount and value of scholarships awarded to student athletes and also by banning students from marketing their likeness.
"It's that list of restrictions that prevents competition in the market for student athletes."
Under the questioning of NCAA lawyer Rohit Singla, Noll somewhat recused himself on the argument on NILs payment in televised games, wherein a person receives payment for the use of his name, likeness and images in broadcasts.
O'Bannon's group is suing the NCAA to force them to pay student players who are seeking compensation whenever their games are being televised. NCAA regulations dictate that athletes in the league are being treated as amateurs, and that there are barred from playing in the league and be stripped off their scholarships should they receive payment. Bloomberg said that US District Judge Claudia Wilken in Oakland, California would be deciding on the case without a need for a jury, and that the trial is expected to run three weeks.
