The case centered on football and basketball players. But it’s a baseball analogy that springs to mind. The athletes suing the NCAA on antitrust grounds pitched a rare shutout when the Supreme Court ruled 9–0 in their favor. Narrowly, the decision removed the NCAA’s ability to put restrictions on educational benefits conferred on athletes. Broadly, it took a swipe at the NCAA’s anti-competitive practices and opened the door to more challenges, including athlete compensation.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion and noted that the NCAA “means to propose a sort of judicially ordained immunity from the terms of (antitrust law) for its restraints of trade—that we should overlook its restrictions because they happen to fall at the intersection of higher education, sports, and money—we cannot agree.