From Amateurism to Open Markets: The NCAA's Reckoning with Antitrust Lawsuits

Throughout the 2000s the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) has been the subject of many high-profile antitrust lawsuits regarding the financial restrictions imposed on student athletes. The aftermath of some of the most recent decisions has given athletes new ways to earn compensation while competing in college athletics. In House v. NCAA, another historic antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA, the Court for the Northern District of California was tasked with deciding whether student athletes can be paid directly for their athletic performance. By comparing these NCAA antitrust lawsuits with other blockbuster antitrust cases such as the Microsoft antitrust case, a pattern emerges suggesting that college athletics will cease its existence as a monopsony and allow for new buyers of college athletics to break into the market. The result will lead to the NCAA no longer being the only buyer of college athletics, and likely not the biggest buyer. We will see individual players; schools; Names, Images, and Likenesses (NIL) collectives; and even businesses take a growing market share of college athletics.