Rock v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n

928 F. Supp. 2d 1010, 2013 WL 786775, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29034
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedMarch 1, 2013
DocketNo. 1:12-cv-1019-JMS-DKL
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 928 F. Supp. 2d 1010 (Rock v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rock v. National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n, 928 F. Supp. 2d 1010, 2013 WL 786775, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29034 (S.D. Ind. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

JANE MAGNUS-STINSON, District Judge.

As the poignant refrain from a popular duet cover laments, here we go again. Ray Charles & Norah Jones, “Here We Go Again,” Genius Loves Company, Concord Records (2004). In July 2012, Plaintiffs John Rock, Tim Steward, and Kody Collins filed this antitrust action against Defendant National Collegiate Athletic Association (the “NCAA”),challenging two bylaws that were at issue in Agnew v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2011 WL 3878200, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98744 (S.D.Ind.2011), affirmed by Agnew v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, 683 F.3d 328 (7th Cir.2012).1 In addition to the bylaws at issue in Agnew — the prohibition on multi-year athletics-based scholarships and the cap on the number and amount of athletics-based scholarships— Plaintiffs also challenge an NCAA bylaw prohibiting athletics-based scholarships at Division III schools. [Dkt. 20 at 14-23.] Plaintiffs argue that these bylaws unlawfully restrain trade among NCAA member institutions for the labor of student-athletes. [Id] The NCAA has moved to dismiss Plaintiffs’ action. [Dkt. 21.]

I.

Standard of Review

A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) asks whether the complaint “contain[s] sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 677, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). For the purposes of that rule, the Court will ignore conclusory legal allegations. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (“Although for the purposes of a motion to dismiss we must take all of the factual allegations in the complaint as true, we are not bound to accept as true a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.”). The Court will, however, give the complaint the benefit of reasonable- inferences from all non-conclusory allegations. See id.

II.

Background

A. Scope of Plaintiffs’ Allegations

Plaintiffs’ complaint is styled as a class action and asserts certain “class allegations” in addition to the allegations specific to the named Plaintiffs, [see, e.g., dkt. 20 at 32-34], but Plaintiffs have not filed a motion to certify a class. Because the named Plaintiffs are the only parties with “legally protected interests in the litigation[,]” Agnew, 683 F.3d at 333 n. 2, the Court will focus on the allegations specific to them.

It is undisputed that different NCAA bylaws govern Division I, II, and III member institutions. There is also no dispute that Mr. Rock received an athletics-based scholarship to play football at a Division I Football Championship Subdivision (“FCS”) school, [dkts. 20 at 24 ¶ 74; 22 at 28 n. 25], and that Mr. Steward and Mr. Collins attended Division III schools to play their respective sports, basketball and hockey, [id. at 27 ¶ 84, 28 at ¶ 89]. The NCAA argues that because the Court can only analyze the claims the plaintiffs have standing to bring as individuals, “[n]one of the plaintiffs can challenge Division I FBS rules, Division II rules, or rules that gov[1015]*1015ern sports other than FCS football, Division III basketball or Division III hockey.” [Dkt. 22 at 28 n. 25.] Plaintiffs do not respond to this argument; therefore, the Court construes Plaintiffs’ silence as an acceptance of its merit. Accordingly, the Court will not construe the complaint as stating any claim regarding rules that did not apply to the named Plaintiffs.

B. Reasonable Inferences from NonConclusory Allegations

Plaintiffs’ complaint reads more like a press release than a legal filing. Given the applicable standard of review, the Court ignores Plaintiffs’ conclusory legal allegations and needless case citations and will only detail the reasonable inferences it can make from the necessary factual allegations to determine if Plaintiffs have stated a plausible claim for relief.

Mr. Rock is a United States citizen domiciled in Ohio. [Dkt. 20 at 5 ¶ 8.] Coming out of high school in 2008, Mr. Rock was offered athletics-based scholarships to play football at numerous Division I member institutions, including Gardner-Webb University (“Gardner-Webb” )m North Carolina. [M] He ultimately chose Gardner-Webb “based on the pledge of the head coach that his athletics-based scholarship would be renewed annually so long as he did well academically and remained eligible for NCAA competition.” [Id.] On January 26, 2011, Gardner-Webb named a new head football coach. [Id. at ¶ 9.] Mr. Rock was informed in writing in July 2011 that he would no longer receive a football scholarship at Gardner-Webb, and his appeal of that decision was denied. [7d.] Mr. Rock paid tuition and room and board to graduate in May 2012 with a degree in political science. [Id.]

Mr. Steward is a United States citizen domiciled in Ohio. [Dkt. 20 at 5 ¶ 10.] He was recruited by several colleges to play basketball and ultimately decided to attend Kean University in New Jersey, a Division III member institution. [Id.] Before his freshman year, Mr. Steward applied for and received a scholarship given to incoming students who meet certain academic criteria and demonstrate “extraordinary extracurricular achievement.” [Id.] In November 2011, prior to the start of his sophomore basketball season, Mr. Steward was told by athletic department administrators that he could no longer play basketball while accepting the scholarship because the NCAA “had determined that the school was violating the NCAA’s prohibition on the award of athletics-based financial aid by Division III institutions.” [Id. at 6 ¶ 11.] Mr. Steward sat out his sophomore season but forfeited the scholarship his junior year to play basketball. [Id.] Mr. Steward took out private loans to pay his tuition. [Id.]

Mr. Collins is a Canadian citizen. [Dkt. 20 at 6 ¶ 13.] He was recruited to play hockey and chose the University of New England after it pledged over $14,000 in financial aid as a diversity scholarship. [Id.] After receiving that financial aid his freshman year, Mr. Collins was informed before his sophomore year that due to his NCAA athletic participation, he could no longer receive the diversity scholarship money. [Id. at ¶ 14.] Mr. Collins sat out his sophomore season and then transferred to the University of Southern Maine to ' play hockey, where he paid additional tuition and room and board at that school. [Id. at ¶ 15, 29 ¶ 93.]

The NCAA includes 1,096 active member schools organized into three divisions. [Id. at 7 ¶ 17.] Three NCAA bylaws are at issue in this action. First, Plaintiffs challenge the NCAA bylaw that prohibited2 [1016]*1016awarding athletics-based financial aid in excess of one academic year. [Dkt.

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928 F. Supp. 2d 1010, 2013 WL 786775, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29034, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rock-v-national-collegiate-athletic-assn-insd-2013.