In Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Thomas W. Corbett Jr., Governor v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, Pennsylvania’s governor, Thomas W. Corbett filed suit against NCAA, claiming the NCAA’s sanctions against Pennsylvania State University (“Penn State”) in response to the sexual abuse scandal surrounding former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, violated antitrust laws and would cause dire economic harm to both the school and the state’s citizens.
Sanctions against Penn State included a $60 million fine, a four-year ban on football post-season play and a four-year reduction in athletic scholarships for football. According to the governor’s complaint, Penn State did not engage in any conduct expressly prohibited by the NCAA, but was only suspected of violating vague principles of “institutional control” and “individual integrity.” The suit further alleges that because a finding that Penn State violated any NCAA rules would not be a certainty, NCAA forced Penn State to voluntarily accept the sanctions through a “consent decree” to save Penn State’s football program from being shut down by NCAA for four years. As such, the complaint contends that the NCAA’s ad-hoc efforts to punish the university would violate the antitrust laws by interfering with markets for post-secondary education, Division I football players, and the sale of athletic apparel and memorabilia.