NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, Petitioner (No. 20-512) v. SHAWNE ALSTON, et al. AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE, et al., Petitioners (No. 20-520) v. SHAWNE ALSTON, et al., 594 U.S. 69

Summary

HOLDINGS: [1]-The district court did not err in finding that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violated the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 1, by limiting the education-related benefits schools could offer student-athletes, such as rules limiting scholarships for graduate or vocational school, payments for academic tutoring, or paid posteligibility internships. The district court properly applied a rule of reason analysis and nowhere required the NCAA to show that its compensation rules constituted the least restrictive means of preserving consumer demand, and it was only after finding that the restraints were stricter than necessary to achieve demonstrated procompetitive benefits that the district court declared a violation of the Sherman Act.