SAN FRANCISCO — Colleges can't be required to let star athletes cash in on their celebrity status, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Wednesday, reversing part of a landmark antitrust decision that had called into question the NCAA's entire business model.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found providing athletes with money not related to school expenses undermines the National Collegiate Athletic Association's commitment to amateur sports. The 2-1 panel vacated a decision from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California that had required the NCAA to allow athletes up to $5,000 a year as compensation for use of their names, images and likenesses in TV broadcasts and video games.

“The district court ignored that not paying student-athletes is precisely what makes them amateurs,” Circuit Judge Jay Bybee wrote on behalf of the majority. He was joined by U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist of the Western District of Michigan. Chief Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas dissented.