Shurtleff Investigates Filing Antitrust Case Against BCS

Jan 07, 2009 by KCPW

(KCPW News) Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff will begin an investigation into college football's Bowl Championship Series to see if he can build an antitrust case against it. Shurtleff says the current system violates the Sherman Antitrust Act because it creates a monopoly for BCS schools and violates free trade.
"This isn't just about bragging rights, about saying we're number one, we're the national champions, there is a huge amount of money involved here, hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and the problem is that the BCS schools exclusive club continue to get bigger and stronger and richer, the rich get richer and the poor, the non-BCS schools are going to get poorer, and that divide continues to grow," Shurtleff said.

Shurtleff says BCS schools use this money for facilities and TV contracts that give them more exposure than non-BCS teams, which leads to better recruits and rankings. He'd like to see it replaced by a playoff system.

After Utah won the Fiesta Bowl in 2004, Shurtleff raised questions about the BCS violating antitrust laws. In 2006, a national championship was added, opening up two more spots for teams to get in. But Shurtleff says this didn't solve the problem.

"It helped, but it didn't fix the system because we have proven that no matter how many teams you beat, undefeated season, a non-BCS team will not be allowed to compete for a national championship. It wasn't a good enough fix so again, we need to start talking about it. And it really comes done to what do collegiate athletics supposed to be about? It's about fairness and opportunity, and the BCS system has denied that across the board fairness," Shurtleff said.

In May, all 11 conference commissioners met and agreed to keep the BCS, arguing that the season would be too long and the importance of the regular season would be diminished by a playoff system.

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