The Courts and College Football: New Playing Rules Off the Field?

A bstract . Oklahoma and Georgia, two outstanding college football contenders, challenged the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) long standing control over television sales of game broadcasts. The case, Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia Athletic Association vs. National Collegiate Athletic Association , alleged violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. ¹ It captured the attention of those involved in sports and of the legal profession but its significance is wider. It involved basic economic issues. Plaintiffs held that television was not a threat to ticket revenues, the NCAA structure gave control to colleges with little or no interest in football. and the arrangement did not achieve competitive balance. The NCAA's behavior is found to be that of a classic cartel and ending its control widened consumer choice and upgraded product quality.