BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

University endowments across America are dwindling faster than Sarah Palin's prospects for 2012. At a time when even the largest university budgets are feeling the effects of the economic crisis, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is hoarding hundreds of millions of dollars which could potentially ease the burden on many schools, many of whom are resorting to such belt-tightening measures as cutting trash collection in half.

The 1984 Supreme Court decision, NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, held that sporting events are a type of market and therefore subject to antitrust litigation. This precedent not only makes Congressional action appropriate, it requires that the federal government investigate and pursue the trust.

The BCS is big business. Last year, bowl games combined to produce $186.3 million in total revenue. Soon after #2 Florida sealed its victory over #1 Oklahoma, the BCS netted $140.9 million in assets, marching $80.6 million of that money directly to the bank. Most conference' s bowl game payouts, which can be as much as $17 million, are split evenly between member institutions after teams recover expenses.

The problem is that 87.4 percent, or more than $162 million of last year' s BCS revenue was funneled directly to BCS conference teams, according to testimony by Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson. That' s roughly eight times the amount of money given to non-BCS or mid-major teams. As BCS conferences bask in the glory, recognition, and money associated with the elite Bowl games, they also maintain control of the playoffs and a monopoly over the nation' s top high school recruits.

The series is clearly not about determining a true national champion. Despite recent upsets like Utah' s 2008 Allstate Sugar Bowl win over the heavily favored SEC powerhouse Alabama, or Boise State, who beat 12th ranked Oregon last September, the system still exists. Sports are the one arena where victory is based solely on merit. It' s appalling that Notre Dame, who finished the 2008 regular season with a .500 record, was invited to a bowl game. The BCS subverts merit, the key element of the game, by systematically exploiting mid-majors from top end of season contests.

Unlike every other NCAA sport, in Division I college football there is no revenue sharing amongst conferences, giving BCS conferences little incentive to change. Since internal change is unlikely at best, the only viable option is government intervention or, failing that, perhaps even litigation.

Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will hear complaints that the BCS directly violates the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits contracts, combinations, or conspiracies designed to reduce competition. The system "intentionally and explicitly favors certain participants," noted Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, the subcommittee' s top Republican.
 
In an era of greater government oversight, no large business can expect to operate outside federal scrutiny. The BCS is no exception.

Jason Maloni is a Vice President at Levick Strategic Communications and a contributor to Bulletproof Blog.