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 culmina-
tion 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 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Football Play-
off Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) college football games, including post-season 
football games, depend upon competition between 
college and university teams traveling in interstate 
commerce; 
(2) the competitions involve and affect inter-
state commerce and are therefore within Congress’s 
constitutional authority to regulate; 
(3) the total economic impact in the host cities 
from the 5 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) games 
in January 2008 was estimated at more than $1.2 
billion; 
(4) collegiate athletic conferences whose teams 
participate in each BCS bowl game share $17.5 mil-
lion in revenue; 
(5) the BCS system recognizes the important 
economic impact to a city hosting the BCS cham-
pionship game and therefore rotates it among cities; 
and 
(6) the colleges and universities whose teams 
participate in the post-season football bowls experi-
ence significant financial windfall including in-
creased applications for enrollment, recruiting ad-
vantages, increased alumni donations, and increased 
corporate sponsorship that provides a competitive 
advantage over universities whose teams are ineli-
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gible or statistically at a disadvantage from the BCS 
bowl competitions because of their conference affili-
ation. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITED ACT. 
(a) PROMOTION OF GAME.—It shall be unlawful for 
any person to promote, market, or advertise a post-season 
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 
I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football game as a 
championship or national championship game, unless the 
game is the final game of a single elimination post-season 
playoff system for which all NCAA Division I FBS con-
ferences and unaffiliated Division I FBS teams are eligi-
ble. 
(b) MERCHANDISING.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to sell, market, or advertise any merchandise re-
lated to a post-season NCAA Division I FBS football 
game that refers to the game as a championship or na-
tional championship game, unless the game is the final 
game of a single elimination post-season playoff system 
for which all NCAA Division I FBS conferences and unaf-
filiated Division I FBS teams are eligible. 
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION. 
(a) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—A violation of sec-
tion 3 shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining 
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an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under sec-
tion 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). The Federal Trade Commission 
shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same 
means, and with the same jurisdiction as though all appli-
cable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion Act were incorporated into and made a part of this 
Act. 
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Federal Trade Commission 
may promulgate regulations or issue interpretative guide-
lines as necessary to implement and carry out this Act. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The prohibition in section 3 shall apply to any post- 
season NCAA Division I FBS football game that occurs 
after January 31, 2011. 
Æ 
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