On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathaniel M. Cousins granted Ed O'Bannon's motion to review NCAA and NCAA member revenue info from TV, radio, Internet, sponsorships, licensing & ads. This is a significant pretrial victory for O'Bannon and his legal team, and also illustrates why the NFL apparently wants to reach a settlement with Jonathan Vilma before there's any pretrial discovery in Vilma v. Goodell: once a suit isn't dismissed and it goes to discovery, defendants may have to reveal information they are concerned about sharing.The NCAA had argued the info was confidential and would have a "chilling effect" on member schools. Judge Cummings disagreed, as the info is clearly relevant to O'Bannon's class action lawsuit, which centers on the NCAA's use of former student-athletes' likeness after they leave college.
For more on Judge Cousin's ruling, see this Law 360 story and Hollywood Reporter story.
