National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Miller

Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Grgurich, Ronald Ganulin, and Shelley Fischer appeal the district court’s order declaring that the provisions of Nevada Revised Statutes §§ 398.-155-398.255 1 (“the Statute”), which impose certain requirements on interstate national collegiate athletic associations, violate Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 (the Commerce Clause) and Article I, Section 10 (the Contract Clause) of the United States Constitution. The district court granted the declaratory judgment and enjoined appellants from taking any action to seek protection under the Statute. 2 We affirm.

BACKGROUND

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) is a voluntary, unincorporated association of 1,056 members, including four-year colleges and universities, conferences, associations, and other educational institutions. Members of the NCAA are located in each of the United States.

Among the purposes of the NCAA are these: 1) “to initiate, stimulate and improve intercollegiate athletics programs for student-athletes;” 2) “to uphold the principle of institutional control of, and responsibility for, all intercollegiate sports in conformity with the constitution and bylaws of this Association;”…