Senator Hatch: ‘BCS Literally Violates Antitrust Laws’

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U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah appeared as a guest on the inaugural telecast of the Tony Barnhart Show on Tuesday, saying the Bowl Championship Series “literally violates antitrust laws.”

Hatch, along with U.S. Representative Joe Barton of Texas, have been outspoken critics of the BCS, with each holding hearings threatening federal government intervention and a possible Justice Department investigation into college football’s system of crowning a national champion.

During the segment, Barnhart said he’d spoken to several attorneys representing the BCS who have carefully vetted the system and found that it does not violate antitrust laws. Barnhart then asked Hatch why he believes the BCS violates antitrust laws, with the Senator stating he believed “the attorney (Barry Brett) representing the Mountain West Conference made a strong argument” during a committee meeting on antitrust oversight in July.

Hatch made frequent references to BCS conference members, calling them “preferential” and referring to non-BCS programs as “non-privileged.” He went on to say that “it’s impossible for non-privileged schools” to get an opportunity to play for the BCS national championship.

The Senator also said there was a “reasonable chance the Justice Department might get involved” as part of an investigation into the BCS and possible antitrust violations.

This isn’t the first time Hatch has raised questions about the BCS.

Speaking at the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Hearing in 2003 “BCS or Bust: Competitive and Economic Effects of the Bowl Championship Series On and Off the Field,” Hatch said, “I – and many others – are concerned that all this college football money is turning college sports into nothing more than a minor league for pro football rather than a legitimate educational activity for student athletes.”

Congressional hearings into possible antitrust violations regarding the BCS have been at issue since 2003, when NCAA president Myles Brand was called to testify before the House Judiciary Committee during the oversight hearing “Competition in College Athletic Conferences and Antitrust Aspects of the Bowl Championship Series.”

Brand said during the hearing that the BCS generates revenues as a result of the free market system. Those monies, he said, wouldn’t be available to the smaller institutions if the power conferences weren’t given majority representation.

Barnhart made note of a MWC proposal that would create an eight-team playoff, a format Hatch said he would be in favor of.

Most antitrust law experts agree that any party bringing a case against the BCS wouldn’t have much standing to base their arguments upon, concluding that non-BCS conferences and universities have confused athletic competition with economic competition, and therefore would not achieve victory through an antitrust lawsuit.