On September 30, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its highly anticipated opinion on the NCAA’s appeal of the District Court’s decision in the O’Bannon case (a summary of the District Court’s decision is available here). After a lengthy discussion in which the Ninth Circuit ruled that the NCAA’s compensation rules are subject to scrutiny under antitrust laws, the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part the District Court’s decision. The Ninth Circuit upheld that part of the District Court’s ruling which enjoined the NCAA from enforcing its rules precluding member institutions from providing athletic scholarships up to the full cost of attendance. The Ninth Circuit reasoned that this constituted a substantially less restrictive alternative to the NCAA’s current compensation rules because this would have virtually no impact on amateurism. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, however, with that…
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