NCAA awarded stay in O'Bannon case putting payments to athletes on hold

The current landscape of college athletics - without offers of licensing payments - will remain, for now, as the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA's request to stay the injunction in the Ed O'Bannon case until the appeal is heard.

A ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken in August 2014 decreed schools could begin to offer athletes as much as $5,000 annually in deferred compensation. That money would be held in trust, and athletes would receive it upon leaving school.

That ruling was to take effect Saturday, though no athlete would have been eligible to receive compensation until the 2016-17 academic year.

The NCAA appealed that decision, and was granted the stay Friday. The appeals court heard the NCAA's appeal in March, but hasn't yet issued a ruling on the appeal itself.

The NCAA released the following statement from its chief legal officer, Donald Remy.

We are pleased that the Ninth Circuit today granted the NCAA's motion for stay. As a result, the NCAA will not be implementing any changes to its rules in response to the district court's injunction at this time. We continue to await the Ninth Circuits final ruling.