Ramogi Huma, Executive Director of the NCPA, will present various forms of NCAA activities that violate US antitrust laws and cause significant harm to college athletes to the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division.
Ramogi Huma, Executive Director of the National College Players Association (NCPA), will lay out various forms of NCAA activities that violate US antitrust laws and cause significant harm to college athletes during the US Department Of Justice Antitrust Division’s workshop on “Competition in Labor Markets” on Monday September 23, 2019 at 2pm ET.
The event will take place in The Great Hall of the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC and is open to the public.
Huma Stated, “The NCAA is a exploitative economic cartel that forces college athletes into second class citizenship. The NCAA’s price-fixing, threats of group boycotts, and other forms of illegal collusion harm the economic, physical, and academic well-being of college athletes. I am grateful to have the opportunity to present these issues on behalf of college athletes nationwide.”
The NCPA is a co-sponsor of the California Fair Pay to Play Act (SB 206), which would allow college athletes to hire sports agents and receive compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness beginning in 2023. Authored by State Senators Nancy Skinner and Steven Bradford, the bill was approved 72-0 in the Assembly, 39-0 in the Senate, and is on the governor’s desk. Influential voices such as Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Draymond Green have voiced their support, and lawmakers in South Carolina and New York have already made moves to introduce similar bills in their state.
In response, NCAA leadership has threatened to exclude California colleges from NCAA competition should the bill be signed into law.
“The NCAA is essentially threatening an illegal group boycott that would violate both state and federal antitrust laws,” stated Huma.
A recent College Pulse poll found that 84% of regular college students and 89% of college athletes feel that the NCAA rules exploit college athletes. The poll also found that college athlete name, image, and likeness compensation was favored by 77% of regular students and 81% of college athletes. Additionally, a Rasmussen public opinion poll published in March found that approximately 66% of Americans support allowing college athlete compensation for use of their name, image, and likeness.
The NCPA has been at the forefront of the college athletes’ rights movements, and has spearheaded a number of legislative actions and bills on the local, state, and federal levels.