Shurtleff
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) - Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says he plans to file a lawsuit in federal court against the Bowl Championship Series, alleging it has incurred serious antitrust violations.
The attorney general said he will file his suit in the next couple months, USA Today reported. He believes other state attorneys general will join the action.
"As they have a chance to look at what we're talking about -- that this isn't about bragging rights, it isn't some kind of frivolous deal, there are serious antitrust violations that are harming taxpayer-funded institutions to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. And the right thing to do, regardless of whether teams in your state benefit, is to go after the antitrust violations... all the way from the Sherman Act through price fixing," Shurtleff told USA Today.
The attorney general has reportedly been investigating the BCS since undefeated Utah was shut out of the national championship game in 2008.
The BCS has come under fire recently after it was discovered that the Fiesta Bowl, one of system's top bowl games, was at the center of a scandal that involved excessive spending and political contributions. Bowl President John Junker was fired in the wake.
Now, the Fiesta Bowl could lose its BCS affiliation. Conference commissioners and athletic directors will meet next week in New Orleans to discuss, USA Today reported.
Shurtleff told the newspaper while it's not his "call" how to fix the BCS, he "clearly" thinks it should go to a playoff system and the BCS should be scrapped.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.