Jacobsen, Sports law, Spring 2017
Introduction is 1-20
High school sports
Mostly eligibility
Grades
Transfer rules
Age
Interscholastic sports is a lot of constitutional law
Especially high schools, more so public schools
Who regulates sports on a high school
Each state has a sports association
Ex. Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association
The individual school
Teachers
Coaches
Athletic Directors
Exhaustion of administrative remedies
If you had someone come and tell you about their daughter not being able to play tennis anymore at school cause the team is disbanded
You don’t go straight to court
You go through the administrative process because most of these schools and athletic associations have their own process
If you don’t go through that first the courts will tell you to go do that first.
One way of successfully challenging an association’s conduct is if it didn’t follow it’s own procedures, processes, or conduct.
Ex. If it has bylaws but didn’t follow them
The courts give quite a bit of leeway to the associations because they aren’t trying to micromanage
Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (24)
A private organization can be considered a state actor if there is sufficient entwinement between the state and the organization, such as here where the majority of members are public schools, and the leadership and governing body is made up of public school officials acting within their official capacity.
Not everything and only government are only subject to parts of the Constitution
Private enterprises are sometimes not under the purview of the Constitution
When it is so intertwined like it was here, they are seen as a state actor subject to the requirements of the constitution
The test was if you could show pervasive entwinement with the state/activities of the states
In this case we had the courts look at what the composition of this association was. Here, 84% were public schools.
Members of the association and the people who made the rules and controlled the state association was made up of administrators from these high schools
The funding of the TSSAA was from the schools, whose funding came from public taxes.
The board of the TSSAA enforced the rules
The people employed by the TSSAA could sign up for the state retirement plan
Members of the TSSAA came from the state education department and served on the board
The classification influences what laws they are subject to, in this case, they are subject to the same laws that other state actors are subject to.
This analysis is very fact sensitive
Thomas in his dissent, disagrees, based on the fact that its never been done before. This whole pervasive entwinement thing. Also says the facts don't fit.
Indiana High School Athletic Association v. Carlberg (38)
The association is seen as being a state actor and Carlberg’s 14th amendment right is seen to be violated
The Transfer Rule (rule 19) is seen to be overbroad
This was before Brentwood but a similar fact sensitive inquiry
Public money to the stadiums they play in
Other tax support
Public actors
Due process is only fitting if you have a life, liberty or property that is being taken away or denied
A student athlete lacks a liberty or property interest for their to be an effect of due process
As that is the case, there isn’t really a due process issue.
And even if there was an interest, there was a hearing/administrative process where he was given his due process.
Loses on two levels essentially
The policy behind some of these rules
Emphasize academics
You want there to be real competition
Similar to recruiting rules policy
It was stipulated in this case that he wasn’t transferring for athletic reason
Transferring because of a better academic program
If there is a rational basis for these transfer rules, than we’ll allow it. That was pretty much the reas
an Act which prohibits
Concerted action
Easily met when any suits are given against the NCAA because it's a group of schools and anything that is adopted by the NCAA is voted on by the member schools
That unreasonably restrains trade
The conduct must unreasonably restrains trade, which means it has a bad effect on the consumer or in some way there is a harm suffered by the consumer
Ex. Limits the ability to the consumer, or raises the price
The courts don’t deal with the whole eligibility issues but things that would harm the consumer such as games or the access to these games is something that the courts will deal with through the Sherman Act
Waldrep v. Texas Employers Insurance Assn. (147)
Worker’s compensation case for TCU player that was critically injured
Reaffirms the college player’s status as amateur
Doesn’t make them an employee
Scholarship is not pay
Not a broad opinion and could be subject to change in future
Based all facts on what happened in 70s and not today’s landscape
Northwestern University and College Athletes Players Association, Petitioner (157)
Players are not employees and the scholarship is not their pay.
The court is not fit in their jurisdiction to hear the case
Bliney v. The Evening Star Newspaper Co. (163)
Athletes are public figures and things like college athletes grades are going to be published as they chose to be in the spotlight
NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (235)
Oklahoma and Georgia file suit against the NCAA for violation of §1 of the Sherman Act
