UNDER THE DOME
some of their own rules.
Notre Dame is also in-
cluded in the new autono-
mous class of the NCAA's
Division I schools.
The second came a
day later in the court-
room of Judge Claudia
Wilken, who ruled that
the NCAA could not stop
its members from offering
cost-of-living stipends in
addition to scholarship
money to their student-
athletes. Wilken's 99-page
decision in the O'Bannon
vs. NCAA case also said
that it was unlawful to
prevent student-athletes
from profiting off of the
use of their names and
likenesses on television
and in video games.
The NCAA will appeal
Wilken's decision, which
if it stands won't go into
effect until July 2016.
The decision to allow the
"Big Five" conferences to
rewrite parts of the rule
book will have a more im-
mediate effect. Members
of those conferences will
submit proposals for new
rules by the beginning of
October and adopt them
as soon as January.
Swarbrick said he
doesn't expect that the
product college sports
fans see will change much
with the new rules. The
leagues are allowed to
rewrite policies for items
such as player stipends,
health and insurance poli-
cies, recruiting restrictions
and the size of coaching
staffs. They won't be able
to change any on-field
rules or other significant
parts of the NCAA man-
ual.
"I think for the average
fan you won't see any dif-
ference," Swarbrick said.
"But on those important
issues — and they are im-
portant especially to our
student-athletes — our
programs will be able to
move faster in a way that
makes more sense."
