FTC Could Void Deals Between ABC and CFA

The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint against the College Football Assn. and Capital Cities-ABC Inc. Wednesday, saying their television contracts are anti-competitive.

The five-page complaint, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press, said competition among schools and networks for college football games has been hindered and that “consumers have been deprived of the selection of college football games that would otherwise have been televised in a competitive environment.”

The FTC asked that the CFA and Capital Cities appear before an administrative law judge on Nov. 13 in Washington. The FTC could void the national television contracts and prohibit the CFA from negotiating new deals for all its members.

ABC currently televises games under a contract with the Big Ten and the Pacific 10 conferences. The CFA’s contracts with CBS expire after this season, and the CFA is scheduled to begin a new deal with ABC in 1991.

The CFA is composed of 64 schools from all major conferences except the Big Ten and the Pacific 10. The association announced that the complaint was filed after Lew Engman, its Washington lawyer, received the papers.

“We are disappointed that the FTC has decided to file a complaint against the CFA,” the association said in a statement at its Boulder, Colo., office. “Such action, however, should not be construed as a finding that the CFA has acted unlawfully, but rather as an initiation of the formal hearing process.”

ABC Sports spokesman Mark Mandel said the network did not have a comment since it had not yet seen the complaint. The FTC scheduled a news conference today to discuss the complaint.