A Three-Tiered Circuit Split: Why the Supreme Court Needs to Take Alston v. NCAA

This presentation will define and analyze a three-tiered circuit split existent in the courts’ application of antitrust law to NCAA amateurism regulations. Using mixed-methods citation network analysis review, this presentation will show wide disarray within the NCAA amateurism discrete citation network by analyzing the doctrinal differences in how three distinct jurisdictional silos have applied antitrust law to four broad categories of NCAA rules. As such, this presentation will urge the Supreme Court to grant certiorari to the ongoing Alston v. NCAA to resolve this circuit split and better define the precedential effect of the much-debated NCAA v. Board of Regents.