Federal judge rules challenges to NCAA rules can proceed, but denies class action damages

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the way the NCAA has used the images and likenesses of college athletes can move forward, but denied class action status to the plaintiffs that could have potentially put the NCAA on the hook for billions of dollars in damages.

The 24-page partial class certification ruling was handed down Friday by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. The case could still dramatically change the way the NCAA does business and its definition of amateurism, but Wilken ruled there was no way to determine which former players might have been harmed by the NCAA rules.

Former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon is the lead plaintiff among 16 former college athletes in the long-running legal battle over how the NCAA made money off the images, likenesses and names of athletes.