Wetzel: O'Bannon Case Could Be A Game Changer

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-obannon020810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

His thinking is that this might force the NCAA to pay some former Johnnies, for example, for use of their images.


The case could lead to former student-athletes getting a cut of the multi-billion dollar college sports revenue pool and dramatically impact the way college athletics operates.

Consider a famous play such as Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that lifted Duke past Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA tournament. The footage has been sold by the NCAA to be used in commercial advertisements for nearly two decades. In most cases, neither Laettner, nor any other player in the footage, has been paid. The O’Bannon lawsuit could cause the NCAA to retroactively compensate everyone in the highlight (the UK players guarding Laettner, the bench players, celebrating Duke teammates, etc.) for a cut of the revenue advertisements using that footage generated. Then there’s memorabilia, classic sports television rebroadcasts, in-house ads and so on.

And that’s one play. Then there’s Bryce Drew’s 3-pointer and Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary and Tyus Edney’s coast-to-coast drive and so on. It’s not farfetched to presume the NCAA, should it lose, could be forced to pay a huge sum.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-obannon020810&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

His thinking is that this might force the NCAA to pay some former Johnnies, for example, for use of their images.


The case could lead to former student-athletes getting a cut of the multi-billion dollar college sports revenue pool and dramatically impact the way college athletics operates.

Consider a famous play such as Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that lifted Duke past Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA tournament. The footage has been sold by the NCAA to be used in commercial advertisements for nearly two decades. In most cases, neither Laettner, nor any other player in the footage, has been paid. The O’Bannon lawsuit could cause the NCAA to retroactively compensate everyone in the highlight (the UK players guarding Laettner, the bench players, celebrating Duke teammates, etc.) for a cut of the revenue advertisements using that footage generated. Then there’s memorabilia, classic sports television rebroadcasts, in-house ads and so on.

And that’s one play. Then there’s Bryce Drew’s 3-pointer and Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary and Tyus Edney’s coast-to-coast drive and so on. It’s not farfetched to presume the NCAA, should it lose, could be forced to pay a huge sum.

The Rowan J...the Berry block.

with st john's...the statute of limitations will kick in.