Media Mailbag – Sports Broadcasting Act and NCAA Football
Irwin Kishner, co-chair of Herrick's Sports Law Group and co-chair of Herrick's Corporate Department and associate Jessie Root were quoted in The Athletic's Media Mailbag column addressing how networks are planning on handling airing NCAA football games "since they are about to become 'professional'" noting that the Sports Broadcasting Act forbids “organized professional football” from being telecast on Saturdays.
Irwin and Jessie noted that a key provision of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 "prohibits the televising of professional football games on Fridays and Saturdays during the high school and college football seasons — specifically, from the second Friday in September through the second Saturday in December." While the NCAA’s decision to allow Division I schools to directly compensate athletes marks a significant move toward a more professional model of college athletics, college football is still classified as an amateur sport. Further, the Act "defines intercollegiate and interscholastic football contests by the involvement of institutions of higher learning or accredited or certified secondary schools, not by whether the players receive compensation."
"As long as NCAA football is legally considered amateur, it remains outside the scope of such restriction, therefore allowing networks to continue broadcasting college games on Saturdays." Irwin and Jessie further reflect that with "college athletes now able to profit from their name, image and likeness through endorsements and sponsorships — along with direct payments from schools and other monumental shifts toward a professional athletic model — college football is beginning to resemble the commercial dynamics of the professional game."
“As the line between amateur and professional continues to blur, the rationale for preserving Saturdays exclusively for the college game may start to lose its force, and the NFL may be positioned to challenge that long-standing arrangement.”