Parties Seek Expedited Answers on Changes to College Sports

As we discussed in more detail in our previous article, the extent to which the O’Bannon decision, which found that the NCAA operates as a “cartel” that restrains college athletics, will impact college sports largely comes down to whether Judge Wilken’s opinion survives the NCAA’s appeal to the Ninth Circuit.  Both parties now appear to agree that a quick resolution is necessary to provide the NCAA and college athletes with more clarity before fundamental changes must be made to college football and basketball.  The parties have filed a joint motion to expedite the appeal, which was granted by the Ninth Circuit this week.  The Ninth Circuit’s new expedited scheduling order means all briefs will be completed before Valentine’s Day, and the case will likely be argued this spring.  This gives the Ninth Circuit time to rule on the matter before the district court’s injunction goes into effect on August 1, 2015, and the NCAA kicks off the 2015 football (and recruiting) seasons.