NCAA Antitrust Lawsuit Gains Widespread Media Attention

On March 17, 2014, Winston & Strawn filed a landmark antitrust suit against the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) and the five NCAA “power conferences” on behalf of a group of current college football and basketball athletes and a class of similarly situated players. This announcement received extensive press coverage in numerous publications, including Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, CBS Sports, USA Today, ESPN, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, Sports Illustrated, The AmLaw Litigation Daily, Law360, and ABA Journal, among others.

Winston partner Jeffrey Kessler, who heads the firm’s global antitrust practice and co-chairs its internationally regarded sports law practice, called the case "a frontal attack on the basic unfairness of the system," which works as a cartel to restrain competition for the services of players.

“The main objective is to strike down permanently the restrictions that prevent athletes in Division I basketball and the top tier of college football from being fairly compensated for the billions of dollars in revenues that they help generate,” Mr. Kessler told ESPN. “In no other business — and college sports is big business — would it ever be suggested that the people who are providing the essential services work for free. Only in big-time college sports is that line drawn.”

On April 25, 2014, Mr. Kessler appeared on Bloomberg TV to discuss the lawsuit and recent efforts by Northwestern University football players to form a union.