Wednesday
Dec092009
House Bill Aims To Sack College Football BCS System
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 1:54PM
Travis Martinez, University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service
The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Wednesday approved legislation that could lead to a college football national championship playoff system.
The ‘‘College Football Playoff Act of 2009’’ would call on the Federal Trade Commission to ban the promotion of any post-season NCAA Division I football national championship games, unless the games culminate in a single elimination playoff system.
The Ranking Member of the committee Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who sponsored and authored the bill, looks to sack to the controversial Bowl Championship Series' (BCS) deceptive revenue practices toward automatic qualifier conferences.
“It [BCS] is truly a cartel in the United States. If this cartel existed in the business world it would be in violation of the Sherman Anti-trust Act and we wouldn’t be having a markup on a benign bill like this. We have a multi billion dollar operation that’s not taxed, that’s not subjected to the anti-trust laws and doesn’t really come close to a fair and equitable system for a national championship,” said Barton.
Numerous Representatives voiced their disagreement to hold the hearing at a time when more serious matters should be addressed. Though there are other major issues right now, Barton reminded the committee that these bowl games produce nearly $1.2 billion dollars and interact within interstate commerce, which is within Congress’ power to regulate.
BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock echoed the critics' concern, and told the committee that Congress should focus it’s time with “ more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played."
"The consensus among the presidents, athletic directors, coaches and faculty from the 120 major universities is that the current system is the best," added Hancock.
The legislation was brought up three days after this year's BCS games were announced, which have left college football fans to question the fairness surrounding the selection of teams in the championship games.
The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Wednesday approved legislation that could lead to a college football national championship playoff system.
The ‘‘College Football Playoff Act of 2009’’ would call on the Federal Trade Commission to ban the promotion of any post-season NCAA Division I football national championship games, unless the games culminate in a single elimination playoff system.
The Ranking Member of the committee Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who sponsored and authored the bill, looks to sack to the controversial Bowl Championship Series' (BCS) deceptive revenue practices toward automatic qualifier conferences.
“It [BCS] is truly a cartel in the United States. If this cartel existed in the business world it would be in violation of the Sherman Anti-trust Act and we wouldn’t be having a markup on a benign bill like this. We have a multi billion dollar operation that’s not taxed, that’s not subjected to the anti-trust laws and doesn’t really come close to a fair and equitable system for a national championship,” said Barton.
Numerous Representatives voiced their disagreement to hold the hearing at a time when more serious matters should be addressed. Though there are other major issues right now, Barton reminded the committee that these bowl games produce nearly $1.2 billion dollars and interact within interstate commerce, which is within Congress’ power to regulate.
BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock echoed the critics' concern, and told the committee that Congress should focus it’s time with “ more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played."
"The consensus among the presidents, athletic directors, coaches and faculty from the 120 major universities is that the current system is the best," added Hancock.
The legislation was brought up three days after this year's BCS games were announced, which have left college football fans to question the fairness surrounding the selection of teams in the championship games.
Reader Comments (5)
These clowns will not stop until they have total control of everything. What is next? Will they pick the winners or spot points. I must have missed the college football clause in the constition
There isn't a college football clause, you are correct. But there is an interstate commerce clause that gives Congress the power to regulate the billions of dollars that the BCS and college football produce, where right now they do not have regulation.
All this bill will do is put an embargo on any company or organization trying to promote or award a college football national championship that isn't through a fair playoff system.
Are you serious? Just because it's something as "innocent" as college football doesn't make it a serious, unchecked part of the american economy. the BCS is wrong. It's out of control. Sure, let's exploit these college kids - most of them who won't touch a football again after they graduate - so we can make a ****load of money and justify what we do by letting schools give a small fraction of the students who are athletic enough to earn scholarships with only enough money to pay tuition? It's why I don't watch college football anymore. Of course the bcs director would be say Congress should focus on more important stuff. And don't even get me started on the NCAA.
Regulation of interstate commerce does not contemplate regulating college football. For one, the Constitution interstate commerce clause was meant to "regularize" the shipping of goods across state lines (ie roads, bridges, tariffs, etc). Here you have a game, played in one state. Second, of course the people trying to make the rules about what congress can do are the very ones deciding where their authority ends - sort of like the fox guarding the henhouse. Just because they say they have authority doesn't mean they do. Government has no business decided what a "fair" playoff system is - plus, a playoff would ruin college football.
As a final thought, people do everything they can to get these scholarships so it's hard to say they're being exploited. Fame at 21, not a bad deal.
It never ceases to amaze me how people think things need to be "regulated" because somehow things will spin out of control if they're not, as if putting politicians in charge of anythings improves them (laughable). Always, take out the private sector decision makers (who actually care) and put politicians in charge. So instead of football people collectively deciding how to crown a champion, a bunch of knuckleheads in Congress are going to set up a system. It's just silly. It'll get filibustered anyway and never see the light of day.