Ivy League defends ban on athletic scholarships in antitrust lawsuit
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May 15 (Reuters) - The Ivy League's eight universities on Monday denied that their bans on athletic scholarships violate U.S. antitrust law and asked a Connecticut federal judge to dismiss a prospective class action filed by current and former student athletes.
The lawsuit, brought in March by two Brown University athletes, accused that school and the others in the league of an unlawful price-fixing scheme in denying college athletes certain benefits they could receive at competing universities.
Lawyers for the universities in a jointly submitted court filing argued that college athletic leagues have authority to set rules for financial aid and compensation for student athletes. The filing said the Ivy League's member schools had "independently" sought to "foster campus cultures that do not prioritize athletics."
The defense lawyers also argued that the eight schools of the Ivy League do not form a "market" — a necessary threshold in an antitrust suit — since they are among more than 350 schools competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I, the top level of U.S. college sports.
The two name plaintiffs turned down athletic scholarships at non-Ivy League schools, court filings show.
Members of the plaintiffs' legal team, including Eric Cramer, chairman of Berger Montague, on Monday evening did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The case has pulled in defense lawyers from antitrust practice leadership posts, including Sullivan & Cromwell’s Renata Hesse for Harvard University; Juan Arteaga of Crowell & Moring for Princeton University; Karen Lent of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for Columbia University; and Douglas Litvack of Jenner & Block for Dartmouth College.
Brown and its attorneys at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all Ivy League athletes who had enrolled in one of the defendant schools since March 2019 after being recruited to play one or more sports there. Brown awarded the name-plaintiffs need-based financial aid.
The plaintiffs contend Ivy League schools are the only ones in Division I athletics that "refuse to provide any athletic scholarships or other compensation/reimbursement for athletic services."
The NCAA after a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling began allowing schools to pay athletes $5,980 in annual academic awards.
A lawsuit filed in April alleged NCAA's prior restrictions on such payments harmed thousands of current and former student athletes.
The case is Choh et al v. Brown University et al, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, No. 3:23-cv-00305-AWT.
For plaintiffs: Eric Cramer of Berger Montague; Velvel Freedman of Freedman Normand Friedland; and Stephen Kindseth of Zeisler & Zeisler
For defendants: Deirdre Daly of Finn Dixon & Herling; for Brown: Jon Roellke of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
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Reporting by Mike Scarcella
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
