University of Baltimore Law ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law All Faculty Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 2016 The oJ cks and the Justice: How Sotomayor Restrained College Athletes Phillip J. Closius University of Baltimore School of Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac Part of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, and the Labor and Employment Law Commons Recommended Citation Phillip J. Closius, The Jocks and the Justice: How Sotomayor Restrained College Athletes, 26 Marquette Sports Law Review 493 (2016). Available at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac/989 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE JOCKS AND THE JUSTICE: HOW SOTOMAYOR RESTRAINED COLLEGE ATHLETES PHILLIP J. CLOSIUS* I. INTRODUCTION Two judicial opinions have shaped the modem college athletic world.' NCAA v. Board ofRegents ofthe University ofOklahoma2 declared the NCAA's exclusive control over the media rights to college football violated the Sherman Act.' That decision allowed universities and conferences to control their own media revenue and laid the foundation for the explosion of coverage and income in college football today.' Clarett v. NFL held that the provision then in the National Football League's (NFL) Constitution and By-Laws that prohibited players from being eligible for the NFL draft until three years from the date of their high school graduation was immune from Sherman Act liability because it was protected by the non-statutory labor law exemption.' An earlier decision, Haywood v.