Media & Entertainment Law

One hundred years ago, in 1910, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was rechristened as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA as it is known today. Since then, the scope and popularity of college sports has grown dramatically. The NCAA and its member institutions hold competitions involving 400,000 student athletes in 23 sports. These events have in many cases become big business. Some universities reap over $100,000,000 in gross revenue from their athletic programs.

The growth of NCAA sponsored sports has created tension between important values like amateurism, academic standards, student rights, and equal access on the one hand and practical realities like competitive pressure and fiscal imperatives on the other. This tension has not always been easy to resolve. Not surprisingly, the NCAA, its institutions, and student athletes have sometimes turned to the legal system to resolve conflicts.

On October 15, 2010, Boston College Law School and the Boston College Law Review will hold an all-day symposium that examines some of the legal issues raised by the NCAA's growth. The symposium will feature four panels during which distinguished law faculty will present academic papers that will be published by the Boston College Law Review. A commentator will then give us his or her thoughts about the paper with an eye to fostering an open give and take about the ideas presented.

The symposium will also feature a special lunchtime program during which William Hancock, executive director of the BCS, and Matthew Sanderson, executive director of PlayoffPac, will discuss postseason college football, the BCS, and the National Championship. Jeremy Schaap of ESPN will moderate.

PROGRAM

Lunchtime Program: Postseason College Football, the BCS, and the National Championship

• Roy Kramer, Former Commissioner of the SEC and Founder of the BCS
• Matthew Sanderson, Executive Director, PlayoffPAC
• Jeremy Schaap, ESPN (Moderator)

Panel I: NCAA and Gender

• Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Professor, Florida Coastal Law School
• Erin Buzuvis, Professor, Western New England Law School
• Deborah Corum, Associate Commissioner, SEC (Commentator)

Panel II: NCAA and Students

• Maureen Weston, Professor, Pepperdine Law School
• Alfred Yen, Professor, Boston College Law School
• Petrina Long, Senior Associate Athletic Director, UCLA (Commentator)
• Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated (Discussant) (Invited)

Panel III: NCAA as a Commercial Enterprise

• Michael McCann, Professor, Vermont Law School
• Joseph Liu, Professor, Boston College Law School
• Jon Wertheim, Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated (Commentator)

Panel IV: The NCAA and Constitutional Law

• Vikram Amar, Professor, U.C. Davis School of Law
• Richard Albert, Professor, Boston College Law School
• Gordon Hylton, Professor, Marquette Law School (Commentator)