Michael Elkins of MLE Law. Courtesy photo

Introduction

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) enjoyed a monopoly unlike any other organization in the history of America. For decades upon decades, colleges, universities, coaches, staff, television-partners, conferences and the like reaped the financial rewards of a now multibillion-dollar industry. All of this while the main stars of the industry, the players, were expressly banned from enjoying any financial reward beyond scholarships. Antiquated rules and regulations around what players could and could not do coupled with aggressive enforcement served to keep the monopoly in place. Until now.