Jeanifer Parsigian Moderates Sports Antitrust Panel at the 2024 Golden State Institute

Partner Jeanifer Parsigian moderated a panel titled “Sports Antitrust” at the 2024 Golden State Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Institute (GSI) held on October 24, 2024.

GSI is hosted each year at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. This marquee event brings together attorneys, academics, experts, judges, and law students for a multi-session conference on legal developments, trials, and enforcement, followed by a cocktail reception and dinner honoring the California Antitrust Lawyer of the Year.  

Jeanifer’s panel focused on the latest antitrust cases, trials, and settlements that have shaped the world of collegiate sports, television broadcast rights, and other recent developments.

Key Takeaways:

• Jeanifer and the panelists discussed the House v. NCAA settlement, in which Winston & Strawn negotiated a landmark $2.7 billion settlement addressing athletes’ name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and compensation. The settlement included groundbreaking terms that will shape the future of college sports, such as replacing sport-specific scholarship limits with sport-specific roster caps to promote equality across all sports. Additionally, the settlement allows member schools in autonomy conferences to allocate up to 22% of their revenues in direct payments and benefits to athletes. This settlement represents a major shift in how college sports operate, providing greater financial opportunities and fairness for student-athletes while potentially influencing future antitrust cases in the industry.
• Jeanifer and the panelists also discussed the background of antitrust cases in the sports industry, highlighting key characteristics that make the sector prone to antitrust issues. These include high market share, significant fixed costs and barriers to entry, the role of standard-setting organizations, and the frequent exchange of competitive information among industry players.
• Panelists also addressed the interplay between state law and federal law in sports antitrust, the role of sports broadcasting rights in the digital streaming era, conference realignment such as the ongoing dissolution of the PAC-12, and former collegiate athletes’ pending NIL cases. Jeanifer and the panelists predicted further activity in the sports antitrust realm as these issues become more prevalent and are litigated.