Stepping To The Line: NCAA And NIT Head To Court

The NCAA appears in U.S. District Court in N.Y. today for the start of an antitrust trial that “strikes at the heart of” the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, according to Mark Alesia of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. The NIT is challenging the NCAA’s requirement that teams “attend its championship if invited” and contends that teams “should have the choice to play in any tournament.” The NIT’s complaint states the NCAA Tournament’s gradual increase from 25 teams in ’74 to 64 teams in ’85 “almost caused the NIT to go out of business.” The NCAA claims that member schools were “within their legal rights to create the rule at issue and that it wasn’t intended to harm the NIT.” The NCAA added that consumers “benefit from a single national championship and that the statute of limitations has run out anyway.” The rule was formed in ’82. Alesia wrote the outcome “could devalue the NCAA’s cash cow, a tournament that accounts for at least 90[%] 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.” Texas Tech Univ. coach Bob Knight will testify for the NIT by video, and Duke Univ. coach Mike Krzyzewski is on the witness list for the NCAA. Tulane Univ. Sports Law Dir Gary Roberts said, “The potential here is significant. The NCAA is at some risk” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 7/31).