[Goose]

The NCAA faces a tough battle with the DOJ on board and 11 states now participating in the lawsuit, which asserts the NCAA's transfer rules are "an illegal restraint on college athletes' ability to sell their image and likeness and control their education." A trial date has note been set."

I legit do not get this argument.  There is no restriction on their ability to sell their name image and likeness or control their education.  As far as I know, the only restriction is on playing NCAA sports.  But, if a school is not working out academically, they are free to transfer at any time, and can continue their education anywhere where they can get it, whether they play intercollegiate athletics or not... just like any other student.  Likewise, if a sponsor wants to use them in an ad campaign, transfer rules do not prevent a student-athlete from getting paid for their NIL.

In fact, it is the impact of frequent transferring on education that is the whole reason why transfer restrictions exist in the first place.  It takes time to acclimatize to a new school, different general education requirements, potentially having units not count towards graduation.  A year without competition, to allow a student to focus on academics makes sense in a world where student athletes are actual students.  The problem is that these restrictions only make sense if athletes are also students.  If they are thinly veiled professionals, then of course any restriction is an unfair labor practice.  However, every ruling that ignores the student in student athlete makes subsequent restrictions harder to justify.  The next steps will be to say that academic requirements are unfair labor practices and that eligibility limits are age discrimination, and that athletes are entitled to play professional collegiate athletics without regard to age, prior participation in a different league (eg NFL, NBA) or academics.

I am always somewhat cautious about slippery slope arguments, but we have already slipped well down this slope.

BC

I was going to argue we had totally slid down the slope and were now in the sewer at the bottom, but this descent seems so neverending there may be worse below.

[Goose]

The NCAA faces a tough battle with the DOJ on board and 11 states now participating in the lawsuit, which asserts the NCAA's transfer rules are "an illegal restraint on college athletes' ability to sell their image and likeness and control their education." A trial date has note been set."

I legit do not get this argument.  There is no restriction on their ability to sell their name image and likeness or control their education.  As far as I know, the only restriction is on playing NCAA sports.  But, if a school is not working out academically, they are free to transfer at any time, and can continue their education anywhere where they can get it, whether they play intercollegiate athletics or not... just like any other student.  Likewise, if a sponsor wants to use them in an ad campaign, transfer rules do not prevent a student-athlete from getting paid for their NIL.

In fact, it is the impact of frequent transferring on education that is the whole reason why transfer restrictions exist in the first place.  It takes time to acclimatize to a new school, different general education requirements, potentially having units not count towards graduation.  A year without competition, to allow a student to focus on academics makes sense in a world where student athletes are actual students.  The problem is that these restrictions only make sense if athletes are also students.  If they are thinly veiled professionals, then of course any restriction is an unfair labor practice.  However, every ruling that ignores the student in student athlete makes subsequent restrictions harder to justify.  The next steps will be to say that academic requirements are unfair labor practices and that eligibility limits are age discrimination, and that athletes are entitled to play professional collegiate athletics without regard to age, prior participation in a different league (eg NFL, NBA) or academics.

I am always somewhat cautious about slippery slope arguments, but we have already slipped well down this slope.

BC

I was going to argue we had totally slid down the slope and were now in the sewer at the bottom, but this descent seems so neverending there may be worse below.