On June 13, 2016, a group of student-athletes locked in an antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA called out several major collegiate athletic conferences for their reluctance to share documents concerning lucrative television contracts. They claim several conferences have failed to produce essential documents during a discovery dispute which began in March of this year. According to the student-athletes, the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast conferences have refused to even discuss document requests.
The student-athletes, whose class action lawsuits have been consolidated in multidistrict litigation in California federal court, are challenging NCAA rules prohibiting paying student-athletes more than full “grant-in-aid,” which covers the full cost of tuition. The student-athletes argue “grant-in-aid” scholarships are inadequate and do not cover total costs of tuition, room and board, and other fees, resulting in some student-athletes having to take out loans to make up the difference. The court has been asked to issue an order compelling the conferences to produce financial documents, broadcast and other media sponsorship contracts, and marketing materials. The request came after the Southeastern Conference reached a deal to hand over documents detailing broadcast agreements with CBS and ESPN.
The student-athletes argue documents concerning television contracts are highly relevant to dispelling any argument by the NCAA that they cannot afford to pay a percentage of revenue to football and basketball athletes. Specifically, the student-athletes pointed to a reported television contract between the Big Ten and Fox Sports which sources say could be worth $250 million per year. Under that deal, each Big Ten school with the exception of new members Maryland and Rutgers is projected to pull in $44.5 million in annual television revenue.