Subscribe to the NCSA BlogWill Legislative Action Bring Down the BCS?
July 6th, 2009 - byThe Senate is currently looking into the idea that the Bowl Championship Series, more specifically the system used to crown a national champion, violates the Sherman Antitrust Act according to a Yahoo! Sports article.
The hearing will be held next Tuesday [July 7] in the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights, according to a posting on the committee’s Web site.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the subcommittee’s top Republican and the lawmaker who sought the hearing, did not return telephone and e-mail messages left at his office Tuesday.
In an essay for Sports Illustrated being released Wednesday, Hatch wrote that the Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition.
The Sherman Antitrust Act was enacted in 1890 and it requires that the federal government seeks out and pursues trusts, monopolies, cartels, and other group efforts to control supply and prices. These institutions disrupt the ideals of free market economics and limit competition within industries, ultimitely harming consumers.
“I don’t think a more accurate description of what the BCS does exists,” Hatch wrote. He noted that six conferences get automatic bids to participate in series, while others do not. The system, he argued, “intentionally and explicitly favors certain participants.”
Football fans in Hatch’s state were furious that Utah was bypassed for the national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season. Hatch noted that President Barack Obama and others have called for the BCS to be replaced with a playoff system.
“One thing is clear: No changes will take place if Congress does nothing,” Hatch wrote.
Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has introduced legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a game a national championship unless it’s the outcome of a playoff. At a May hearing, Barton warned that the legislation would move forward “if we don’t see some action in the next two months” from BCS on switching to a playoff system.
The results of the Senate’s investigation could mean the end of the BCS, an institution that has come under almost constant scrutiny from college football fans. Any thoughts on the matter? Supporters of the current system claim that a playoff system would disrespect our academic calendars, and they utterly lack a business plan, do you agree?
