Court Rebuffs NCAA, Dismissing Motions to Dismiss in Volunteer Coaches Antitrust Cases

A federal judge from the Eastern District of California has dismissed the NCAA’s motion to dismiss two class action lawsuits, which claimed that restrictions on compensation for thousands of volunteer coaches violated antitrust law. The plaintiffs in the first suit, Taylor Smart and Michael Hacker (collectively “Smart Plaintiffs”), are seeking to represent volunteer baseball coaches, and made claims for (1) violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1; (2) quantum meruit un