I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 390 

To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, the promotion, 

marketing, and advertising of any post-season NCAA Division I football 

game as a national championship game unless such game is the culmination of a fair and equitable playoff system. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2009 

Mr. BARTON of Texas (for himself, Mr. RUSH, and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, 

the promotion, marketing, and advertising of any postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national 

championship game unless such game is the culmination 

of a fair and equitable playoff system. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Football Play5 off Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) college football games, including post-season 

2 football games, depend upon competition between 

3 college and university teams traveling in interstate 

4 commerce; 

5 (2) the competitions involve and affect inter6 state commerce and are therefore within Congress’s 

7 constitutional authority to regulate; 

8 (3) the total economic impact in the host cities 

9 from the 5 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) games 

10 in January 2008 was estimated at more than $1.2 

11 billion; 

12 (4) collegiate athletic conferences whose teams 

13 participate in each BCS bowl game share $17.5 mil14 lion in revenue; 

15 (5) the BCS system recognizes the important 

16 economic impact to a city hosting the BCS cham17 pionship game and therefore rotates it among cities; 

18 and 

19 (6) the colleges and universities whose teams 

20 participate in the post-season football bowls experi21 ence significant financial windfall including in22 creased applications for enrollment, recruiting ad23 vantages, increased alumni donations, and increased 

24 corporate sponsorship that provides a competitive 

25 advantage over universities whose teams are ineliVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:00 Jan 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H390.IH H390

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1 gible or statistically at a disadvantage from the BCS 

2 bowl competitions because of their conference affili3 ation. 

4 SEC. 3. PROHIBITED ACT. 

5 (a) PROMOTION OF GAME.—It shall be unlawful for 

6 any person to promote, market, or advertise a post-season 

7 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 

8 I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football game as a 

9 championship or national championship game, unless the 

10 game is the final game of a single elimination post-season 

11 playoff system for which all NCAA Division I FBS con12 ferences and unaffiliated Division I FBS teams are eligi13 ble. 

14 (b) MERCHANDISING.—It shall be unlawful for any 

15 person to sell, market, or advertise any merchandise re16 lated to a post-season NCAA Division I FBS football 

17 game that refers to the game as a championship or na18 tional championship game, unless the game is the final 

19 game of a single elimination post-season playoff system 

20 for which all NCAA Division I FBS conferences and unaf21 filiated Division I FBS teams are eligible. 

22 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS23 SION. 

24 (a) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—A violation of sec25 tion 3 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining 


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1 an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under sec2 tion 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

3 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade Commission 

4 shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 

5 means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all appli6 cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commis7 sion Act were incorporated into and made a part of this 

8 Act. 

9 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Trade Commission 

10 may promulgate regulations or issue interpretative guide11 lines as necessary to implement and carry out this Act. 

12 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

13 The prohibition in section 3 shall apply to any post14 season NCAA Division I FBS football game that occurs 

15 after January 31, 2011. 

Æ 


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