Hey there,

There’s one thing on everyone’s mind right now: What’s the future of college sports look like? How can we set up a business model that both works, and isn’t violating any antitrust laws? That’s what we intend to look at today, where we’re examining potential business models for the future of college sports. 

With a little help from some law professors, we’re going to be diving into some alternative ways to make college sports’ business dealings legal. There are four models to talk about, but for readability’s sake we decided to split them up. Today, we’ll talk about the first two models, and on Thursday, the second two.

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Four (theoretically legal) business models for the future of college sports

Not too long ago, a paper about college sports was published by three law professors from three different institutions. The paper’s primary motive was to examine the House settlement from a legal perspective – specifically, in how college sports will remain legally “anticompetitive” even after the agreement. This settlement, they infer, is a temporary band-aid, not a permanent solution.

I’m not going to go through every part of the paper with y’all, though. The main thing I want to focus on are the four alternative systems they proposed for college sports. Each of these systems, in the authors’ minds, would set up a college sports business model that’s legal – meaning none of them violate antitrust law.

The four alternative business models they propose are as follows: The “True Free Market” approach; the “Competitive Conference” approach; the “Labor Union” approach; and the “Athlete Equity” approach. 

Now, none of these systems are perfect, but they’d all eliminate the constant specter of legal action that hangs over the college sports world currently. For that reason, it’s worth our time to look at each business model’s merits, as well as its downsides.

It’s only the future of college sports we’re talking about.

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