The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s transfer eligibility rules, specifically in regard to multi-time transfers being required to sit out a year-in-residence before returning to competition.
The original lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in December, was brought forth by seven states’ attorneys general and led by Ohio. It argued that the NCAA’s multi-time transfer rule served as an illegal restraint on college athletes under the Sherman Antitrust Act by hindering athletes’ ability to sell their name, image and likeness (NIL) and control their education. In addition to the DOJ, attorneys general from the Minnesota, Mississippi, Virginia and the District of Columbia also joined on Thursday.
“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.”
The suit initially secured a temporary restraining order that granted immediate eligibility in December to any NCAA college athletes who were unable to play due to the multi-time transfer year-in-residency…
