Antitrust Case Puts NCAA on Defense
By Mark Alesia, Indianapolis Star, July 31, 2005

The NCAA was in court Monday, August 1, for the start of an antitrust trial that strikes at the heart of one of the nation's most popular sporting events, the Division I men's basketball tournament. Worst-case scenario for the NCAA: The case could deal a major blow to the Indianapolis-based organization.

In U.S. District Court in New York, the National Invitation Tournament is challenging the NCAA's requirement that teams attend its championships if invited. The NIT, a once-prominent postseason basketball tournament but now greatly overshadowed by the concurrent NCAA event, contends teams should have the choice to play in any tournament. That could open the postseason to entrepreneurs or prompt the top schools to organize themselves, as in football.

Even a less extreme outcome could devalue the NCAA's cash cow, a tournament that accounts for at least 90 percent of its revenue. Should the NCAA be found to have intentionally harmed the NIT through an illegal monopoly, there's also the possibility of a large financial judgment, which is tripled in antitrust cases.The trial is expected to last a month, and the loser will almost certainly appeal.

The full article can be accessed at http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2005507310500