Ohio, 6 other states sue NCAA over transfer eligibility rule

COLUMBUS — Seven states, led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, are suing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) over the organization’s transfer eligibility rule.

The federal lawsuit, filed in West Virginia, calls the rule “an illegal restraint on college athletes’ ability to market their labor and control their education.” It also claims the rule violates the antitrust law.

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The rule requires college athletes who transfer from one Division 1 school to another to sit out one year before competing in games unless the NCAA waives the rule for a particular athlete. In 2021, the NCAA started to automatically exempt first-time transfers but has continued to enforce the rule for subsequent transfers and deny waivers “for no legitimate reason,” according to Yost.

The rule “artificially deters players and teams from achieving optimal matches by forcing college athletes to weigh the one-year ineligibility period against the benefits of moving to a better matched school,” the lawsuit states.

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“We’re challenging it in order to restore fairness, competition, and the autonomy of college athletes in their educational pursuits,” Yost said.

Joining Yost in the lawsuit are attorneys general from Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Together, they are seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to keep the NCAA from enforcing the rule.

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