The issue at hand in this analysis of sports law is anti-trust legislation and business monopolies.
Antitrust lawsuits are brought against companies that are thought to maintain a monopoly in an industry because ôthe company has such dominance in its industry that it has the power to dictate prices and limit competition,ö (Shiver, & Helm, 1998, p. A1). A monopoly is often classified as being ôhostile to the public interest,ö because it limits competition, results in high prices, and generally controls its product or services without permitting fair competition, (Whittam Smith, 1998, p. 4).
The application of monopoly and anti-trust legislation and law can be seen in a recent lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). In a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) against the NCAA, the NIT sued the NCAA claiming it was in violation of anti-trust legislation, claiming the NCAA Basketball Tournament ôrepresents an illegal monopoly,ö (Wolverton, 2005, p. A65).
The NIT holds its own independent basketball tournament annually. The NIT consists of five New York schools û Fordham University, Manhattan College, New York University, St. JohnÆs University, and Wagner college. The NCAA March Madness tournament is much larger, much more profitable, and much better attended than the NIT Tournament which netted just $1 million in revenue last year, (Wolverton, 2005, p. A65). In their lawsuit, the NIT maintained that the NCAA was trying to ôput the NIT out of businessö with its rule ôrequiring colleges to accept invitations to its tournament over all other postseason invitations,ö (Wolverton, 2005, p. A65). Such unfair competition is a hallmark of a monopoly and in possible violation of anti-trust law.
The case was tried in a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit earlier this year amounted to a tremendous wave of
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