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US: Sports conference heads join to fight NCAA antitrust suit

By  |  April 7, 2014

The heads of the nation’s top five conferences reportedly met in Chicago to discuss a lawsuit looking to sue the NCAA, among others, for allegations of price-fixing in its limits on athlete compensation.

The conferences, including the Big Ten and Big 12, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed by attorney Jeffrey Kessler.

According to reports, the commissioners of the conferences met last week with more than a dozen attorneys to discuss the lawsuit. Together, the five conferences control more than 70 percent of the revenue resulting from the College Football Playoff.

Details of the meeting were scarce, however, as the NCAA and the conferences look to fight off the threat of reforms that would, in theory, allow collegiate athletes to negotiate multi-million dollar contracts the way head coaches do. The lawsuit is similar to a class action filed by a former West Virginia football athlete, who accuses the NCAA of illegally capping athlete scholarships.

Full Content: CBS Sports

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