National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Jerry Tarkanian

Decided December 12, 1988. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-1061 · 488 U.S. 179 (1988) · Cited 581 times

Holding

The NCAA's participation in the events that led to Tarkanian's suspension did not constitute "state action" prohibited by the Fourteenth Amendment and was not performed "under color of" state law within the meaning of 1983.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Dennis v. Sparks · 449 U.S. 24 (1980)
• Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. · 457 U.S. 922 (1982)
• Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority · 365 U.S. 715 (1961)
• Bates v. State Bar of Arizona · 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
• Adickes v. S. H. Kress & Co. · 398 U.S. 144 (1970)
• Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. · 419 U.S. 345 (1974)
• Rendell-Baker v. Kohn · 457 U.S. 830 (1982)
• West v. Atkins · 487 U.S. 42 (1988)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• Hoover v. Ronwin · 466 U.S. 558 (1984)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · 470 U.S. 532 (1985)
• Polk County v. Dodson · 454 U.S. 312 (1981)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• United States v. Classic · 313 U.S. 299 (1941)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Parker v. Brown · 317 U.S. 341 (1943)
• North Georgia Finishing, Inc. v. Di-Chem, Inc. · 419 U.S. 601 (1975)
• National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma · 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
• San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee · 483 U.S. 522 (1987)
• Allied Tube & Conduit Corp. v. Indian Head, Inc. · 486 U.S. 492 (1988)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Assn. · 531 U.S. 288 (2001)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Smith · 525 U.S. 459 (1999)
• Morse v. Republican Party of Virginia · 517 U.S. 186 (1996)
• Georgia v. McCollum · 505 U.S. 42 (1992)
• United States v. Skrmetti · 605 U.S. 495 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1988). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).