Supreme Court rules in favor of amateur athletes

NCAA dealt a setback in 9-0 ruling

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Sports

June 21, 2021 - 3:19 PM

The Supreme Court rejected the NCAA's argument that it needs the freedom to restrict compensation for student-athletes to distinguish college sports from professional sports. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images/TNS)

The NCAA went to the Supreme Court looking for help in keeping its rules limiting college athlete compensation in place. What it got instead was another significant blow to the amateur ideal and a public admonishment that won’t soon be forgotten.

Monday morning the highest court in the land ruled unanimously 9-0 in upholding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit’s earlier ruling, which stated that NCAA schools were in violation of the Sherman Act and could no longer collude to fix the price of labor for college athletes — as long as the benefits in question are related to their education.

Here’s what you need to know about the Supreme Court opinion on NCAA v. Alston, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, and a scalding concurring opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh that called the entire NCAA rule book into question for good measure:

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