Not really. For all intents and purposes the Court found that the NCAA was an organization/business that did not pay its employees and as a result it violated Antitrust laws. Kavanugh stated what entity can have a business like this and get away with not paying its employees. Short of the NCAA agreeing to compensate the athletes, which it was never going to do, there was nothing they could have done to prevent the ruling.
Remember this was a 9-0 decision not 5-4 with a strong dissent by one of the justices which would lead to the possibility of it being overturned down the road. This was so egregious by the NCAA that every justice ruled in favor of NIL. The only thing that can save us now is legislation and after a 9-0 decision that legislation will also be back before the court scrutinized with a fine tooth comb.
Nbnylon, all great points regarding the current legal landscape. Although my understanding of the Supreme Court's majority opinion in the
Alston case, authored by Justice Gorsuch, was that it was limited solely to NCAA rules which limited the "education-related compensation" that a university could provide violated Antitrust law, the writing is certainly now on the "Supreme Court" wall. The Justice Cavanaugh concurring opinion decimated the NCAA.
Following the
Alston decision in 2021, the NCAA did choose to proactively allow NIL, with limitations, that are now the subject of another pending Federal case,
House v. NCAA. Plaintiffs are reportedly seeking $1.4 billion in "back-NIL" which, if trebled, could become a $4.2 billion judgment. There is also
Hubbard v. NCAA, which I understand is seeking similar relief.
Another tact, besides those NIL-related cases, that former college athletes are taking, is going the "employee" route. In
Johnson vs. NCAA, plaintiffs are arguing that they were employees and are suing the NCAA for back-pay for the hours spent on their athletic endeavors while at school. I've seen potential damages sought in that lawsuit to be between $200,000 million and $1 billion. There are also a couple of challenges to the NCAA before the NLRB (the Dartmouth and USC cases), again wherein the athletes are seeking protection as "employees".
The Transfer Rules are being challenged in the Courts by several states (
Ohio vs. NCAA), although I believe that those rules were recently just loosened up by the NCAA, including unlimited transfers.
From what I can see, there does not appear to be an appetite for congressional intervention. Thus, for those of use who detest the current college landscape, at least from a judicial standpoint, the future looks bleak.