NCAA vs. BOARD OF REGENTS　

In September of 1981 just as another college football season was starting the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia Athletic Association filed their antitrust suit in district court in Oklahoma. (I think it is safe to say that by filing in Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma had the home court advantage over the NCAA) At the time the suit was filed, Georgia featured a running back by the name of Herschel Walker who would go to win the Heisman Trophy, while Barry Switzer’s Oklahoma juggernaut was a perennial national power. Thus, the these two schools made strong choices to lead the lawsuit against the NCAA.


                   Herschel Walker

The plaintiffs claimed the NCAA ‘s television plan amounted to price fixing, restraint of trade and was a monopoly. In the simplest terms, schools like Oklahoma and Georgia were prevented from appearing on television except for a few games each year. Additionally, the more high profile schools shared much of their television revenue with smaller profile schools such as a Wyoming or a Rice. The NCAA countered the plaintiffs argument by claiming the television contract protected attendance at the stadiums. (This argument had been in use for years, by the NFL and Major League Baseball, too much television will hurt the gate.) In reality television served as a great way to market the sport. The NCAA felt the current television contract also protected the competitive balance of the sport, and additionally the contract helped the NCAA compete against other forms of entertainment.

One of the interesting stories to come out of this lawsuit was that Notre Dame backed the lawsuit, and could have had their name there with Georgia and Oklahoma, but the Irish did not want to appear to the public as greedy. Several years later it was Notre Dame that left the CFA in 1991 to sign their own television deal with NBC.

It was not until September of 1982 that the District Court in Oklahoma City found for the plaintiffs that the NCAA television contract violated antitrust law. The court bought the argument made by Oklahoma and Georgia that the NCAA contract amounted to restraint of trade. But the battle was just beginning.

Tomorrow:  On to the Supreme Court and beyond