Justice Department, Virginia join lawsuit against NCAA challenging transfer eligibility rule

The NCAA transfer rule is under more legal fire, with the U.S. Justice Department announcing Friday that it has joined 10 states and the District of Columbia in a civil antitrust lawsuit challenging the transfer eligibility rule.

The suit, which also has Virginia as a co-plaintiff, alleges that the NCAA unreasonably restricts college athletes’ freedom to transfer between academic institutions by limiting their eligibility to participate in intercollegiate contests if they transfer more than once during their college careers.

By deterring transfers, the rule also denies athletes educational opportunities, the suit claims.

Last month, the states of Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia filed the lawsuit in the Northern District of West Virginia. Shortly after filing, the court granted the states’ request for a temporary restraining order, finding the NCAA’s Transfer Eligibility Rule likely violates Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on Friday adding the DOJ and the states of Minnesota, Mississippi and Virginia and the District of Columbia as co-plaintiffs.

“We are proud to stand with our state law enforcement partners on behalf of college athletes across the nation,” said Jonathan Kanter, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “NCAA Division I institutions compete with each other not just on the playing field or in the arena, but to recruit and retain college athletes. College athletes should be able to freely choose the institutions that best meet their academic, personal and professional development needs without anticompetitive restrictions that limit their mobility by sacrificing a year of athletic competition.”

The amended complaint alleges that the NCAA’s one-time-transfer rule unreasonably restrains competition in the markets for athletic services in men’s and women’s Division I basketball and FBS football, as well as for athletic services in all other men’s and women’s Division I sports.

The rule forces college athletes who transfer more than once to sit on the sidelines for an entire season before they are eligible to compete in NCAA athletic competitions at their new school. The amended complaint further alleges that the restriction limits college athletes’ bargaining power and harms both their educational and athletic experiences.

“There is strength in numbers,” Ohio attorney general Dave Yost said in a statement. “This case would never have come to pass had many players not been sidelined by the NCAA’s arbitrary and unfair rule. We’re fighting for better competition and long-term change.”