NCAA Loses Ed O’Bannon Video Game Case, Judge and Public Agree Athletes Should Be Paid When Their Likenesses Are Used

Though it can still ding schools for
feeding players too much pasta, the NCAA must now compensate
student-athletes when their images or likenesses are used to sell
merchandise. 

So says a federal court ruling issued Friday in the anti-trust
lawsuit brought against the NCAA by former UCLA basketball player
Ed O’Bannon. 

The
Kansas City Star reports:

A federal judge ruled for student-athletes and against the NCAA
on Friday, opening the door for some college players to share in
licensing revenue after their careers are over. The ruling by U.S.
District judge Claudia Wilken in the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit allows for
trust funds to be established for major college football and men’s
basketball players, who can cash in, after their eligibility
expires, on a portion of the proceeds generated by the use of their
images and likenesses.

It appears that public opinion matches the judge’s decision. In
March,
the Reason-Rupe poll asked 1,003 Americans: 

When a college or company sells a jersey with a college football
or basketball player’s number on it, or sells a video game with a
player’s likeness in it, do you think that player should receive
some of the money from the sale of his likeness or jersey, or
should that not be allowed?

Should be allowed………………………….. 64%

Should not be allowed…………………….. 32%

Don’t Know……………………………………… 4%

Refused………………………………………….. 1%

USA Today‘s Nina Mandell notes how
attitudes about the NCAA are changing, “Through the trial,
Ed O’Bannon and his fellow plaintiffs became heroes who took on an
organization that many felt had treated them unfairly. In a matter
of only a few years, the narrative swung from athletes being
thought of as spoiled jocks to a group of kids who were being
unfairly taken advantage of.”

The ruling is the latest decision in a string of lawsuits
pending against the NCAA and threatens to weaken the institutional
power of the collegiate athletic organization. 

In late July,
the NCAA agreed to earmark $75 million toward concussion
research as part of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by
former football players who felt that the association mismanaged
head injuries.  

And in March,
the Chicago regional office of the National Labor Relations Board
ruled that football players at Northwestern University had the
right to unionize. 

Nationwide telephone poll conducted March 26-30, 2014
interviewed 1,003 adults on both mobile (503) and landline (500)
phones, with a margin of error +/- 3.6%. Princeton Survey Research
Associates International executed the nationwide Reason-Rupe
survey. Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding. Sign up for
notifications of new releases of the Reason-Rupe poll here.