Yahoo Sports 
District Judge denies NCAA motion in Ed O'Bannon case
In its effort to delay the upcoming Ed O’Bannon trial regarding the use of names and likenesses of collegiate athletes, the NCAA has filed several motions. The first of these motions was denied by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken on Monday, according to USA Today.
The NCAA requested that Wilken reconsider a portion of her April 11 ruling. That ruling concluded that the NCAA cannot justify limiting what athletes can potentially receive for playing college sports because paying certain college athletes (football and men’s basketball) would limit a school’s ability “to provide increased financial support for women’s sports and less prominent men’s sports.”
The NCAA has presented a number of “justifications” for not compensating athletes, but the assertion that it would take away from finances for non-revenue sports was shot down by Wilken.
The NCAA had offered five justifications for its compensation limits, but in her summary judgment ruling, Wilken wrote that the NCAA cannot limit competition in the markets for football and men's basketball players in order to promote competition in the markets for women's sports or less prominent men's sports. She also said "the NCAA could mandate that Division I schools and conferences redirect a greater portion of the … revenue generated by football and basketball to these other sports" and the NCAA "has not explained why it could not adopt more stringent revenue-sharing rules" regarding money generated by the Division I men's basketball tournament.
The NCAA has three more pending motions which relating to the O’Bannon case, which has a scheduled trial date of June 9.
The plaintiffs in the case are aiming to establish a system where Division I football and men’s basketball players would be able to receive compensation for allowing schools to use their names and likenesses on television, in video games and in other marketing ventures.
- - - - - - -
is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
