Cite as: 531 U. S. 288 (2001)
Thomas, J., dissenting
Likewise, even if the TSSAA were dependent on state funding to the extent of 90%, as was the case in Blum, instead of less than 4%, mere financial dependence on the State does not convert the TSSAA's actions into acts of the State. See Blum, supra, at 1011; Rendell-Baker, supra, at 840; see also Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 U. S. 163, 173 (1972) ("The Court has never held, of course, that discrimination by an otherwise private entity would be violative of the Equal Protection Clause if the private entity receives any sort of benefit or service at all from the State . . ."). Furthermore, there is no evidence of "joint participation," Lugar, 457 U. S., at 941-942, between the State and the TSSAA in the TSSAA's enforcement of its recruiting rule. The TSSAA's board of control enforces its recruiting rule solely in accordance with the authority granted to it under the contract that each member signs.
Finally, there is no "symbiotic relationship" between the State and the TSSAA. Moose Lodge, supra, at 175; cf. Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U. S. 715 (1961). Contrary to the majority's assertion, see ante, at 299-300, the TSSAA's "fiscal relationship with the State is not different from that of many contractors performing services for the government." Rendell-Baker, supra, at 843. The TSSAA provides a service—the organization of athletic tour-naments—in exchange for membership dues and gate fees, just as a vendor could contract with public schools to sell refreshments at school events. Certainly the public school could sell its own refreshments, yet the existence of that option does not transform the service performed by the contractor into a state action. Also, there is no suggestion in this case that, as was the case in Burton, the State profits from the TSSAA's decision to enforce its recruiting rule.
U. S. 991 (1982), the State could have created its own nursing homes and charged individuals to stay there. The ability of a State to make money by performing a service it has chosen to buy from a private entity is hardly an indication that the service provider is a state actor.
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