U.S. | Mon Oct 3, 2016 | 11:02am EDT

U.S. justices refuse to hear college athlete compensation cases

By Lawrence Hurley | WASHINGTON

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the contentious issue of pay for college athletes, leaving in place a lower court's decision finding that rules by the governing body for collegiate sports limiting compensation violate antitrust law.

The justices declined to hear an appeal by the National Collegiate Athletic Association seeking to reverse a decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court ruled in September 2015 that the NCAA's ban on compensating athletes for use of their names and images in TV broadcasts and video games constituted a restraint of trade under federal antitrust law.

The high court also declined to hear a parallel appeal filed by a group of former college basketball and football players led by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon. The plaintiffs had objected to a part of the appeals court ruling that threw out an injunction that had allowed athletes to be paid up to $5,000 in deferred compensation per year, to be held in trust until after they leave college.

The issue of pay for college athletes has gained momentum as the amount of money for television rights going to the NCAA and sports conferences like the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten has skyrocketed, with athletes frozen out of the riches. For example, the NCAA announced in April an eight-year, $8.8 billion extension of its TV rights with CBS and Turner for the annual March Madness men's basketball tournament.

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