On March 31, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in
NCAA v. Alston. It’s one of numerous legal challenges filed over the last decade aimed at expanding the benefits college athletes can receive. The NCAA, an association of more than 1,100 colleges and universities that sets the rules governing college sports, generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue. (March Madness, the finals of which are being held this weekend, generates more than $800 million). While coaches’ salaries and spending on facilities have skyrocketed, financial benefits for college athletes are fixed at an athletic scholarship.
This particular case stems from a 2019 U.S. District Court ruling that the NCAA’s amateurism standard — which limits the compensation an NCAA athlete can receive to a full-tuition athletic scholarship — violates federal antitrust law.