Alston v. NCAA – drawing a (blurred) line in U.S College Sports

Published

Aug 08 2021

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I am a partner specialising in IP, media and sports law in our Munich office, where I act as co-head of our international Media, Entertainment and Sport Sector Group. I bring deep experience in trade mark, design, copyright and unfair competition law and am widely known for my expertise in sports and sponsorship.

Prof. Dr. Martin Schimke, LL.M.

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As an Of Counsel and a member of our sports team in Düsseldorf, I am an expert sports lawyer, with decades of experience behind me. I'm also a certified specialist lawyer in employment law.

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On 21 June 2021 the US Supreme Court gave its long-awaited judgement in the Alston case. The justices unanimously ruled that the National Collegiate Athletic Association cannot prohibit its member schools from providing athletes with certain forms of education-related benefits, such as paid post-graduate internships, scholarships for graduate school or computer fess/equipment. The decision ended a dispute that began seven years ago as a class-action lawsuit filed against the NCAA and the major collegiate athletic conferences by athletes who played Division I football and basketball. While this decision only concerns education related benefits, it might have the power to change US College sport in its entirety.

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