US: NCAA asks for lengthy delay in athletes’ case

The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has requested a delay in the federal antitrust case filed against the organization by attorney Jeffrey Kessler until well into 2019, according to Law 360.

The NCAA asked for the postponement of the trial, originally scheduled for December 2018, until June 2019, because of scheduling conflicts affecting its lead attorney, Beth A. Wilkinson of Wilkinson Walsh & Eskovitz of Washington, D.C., “who has long been slated to try this case on the NCAA’s behalf.”

The federal antitrust case filed against the NCAA by attorney Jeffrey Kessler on behalf of a group of student-athletes started in 2014. The case has already helped introduce cost-of-attendance payments to Division I athletes. That includes a February 2017 settlement in which the NCAA agreed to pay US$208.7 million to a group of athletes involved in NCAA competition from 2009-2016 who didn’t get cost-of-attendance payments.

The Kessler case is still ongoing, however, because the NCAA is still fighting the remaining portion of the lawsuit which is seeking a pay for play scenario for college athletes. The NCAA has said it “will continue to vigorously oppose the remaining portion of the lawsuit seeking pay for play. Plaintiffs’ lawyers want to dismantle college sports, which has provided billions of dollars in scholarships and the opportunity for millions across 24 sports to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees.”

Kessler’s group plans to oppose the request for the delay, as they hope the trial will continue in December.

Full Content: Law 360

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