Landmark Trial Between Athletes and NCAA set to Begin Later this Month

College athletes cannot presently receive any compensation except scholarships from the schools they play for. But U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken is set to hear both sides and determine whether or not the NCAA must share its billions of dollars in revenue with the athletes they use for their own commercial purposes. The bench trial is set to begin later this month. The case has been growing over the last five years and is centered around a request on the part of the players who desire that the NCAA stops enforcing rules that prohibit the athletes from being paid for playing on the college level. The athletes argue that the NCAA profits greatly and shares the profit with the schools while it is the athletes that make it possible The athletes do not receive any of the profit, and they are not allowed to profit monetarily for their playing efforts. The suit began in 2009 when a UCLA basketball star saw himself as an avatar on a NCAA brand video game. He felt it was unfair that the NCAA can profit while he was prohibited from receiving any of the proceeds.