Rules of the Game: Sports as a Lens for Understanding Fair Competition
In their paper, “Rules of the Game: Sports as a Lens for Understanding Fair Competition,” Open Markets policy counsel Tara Pincock and senior legal analyst Daniel Hanley use sports as a framework to refine antitrust law’s notions of fairness.
Just as per se bans on performance-enhancing drugs or soccer’s offside rule ensure fair play, antitrust law needs clearer boundaries to distinguish between fair and unfair competition, the article explains. Without greater clarity, antitrust law risks endorsing deception, coercion, and dominance, all under the guise of being “pro-competitive.”
Pincock and Hanley argue that:
Antitrust laws inherently define acceptable and unacceptable business practices, embedding moral and ethical considerations that impose a standard of fairness on firm conduct.
Fairness is not an external add-on—it is an inseparable aspect of antitrust law.
While not a perfect analogy, sports provide a valuable framework for understanding fairness in competition.
A clearer understanding of fairness ultimately helps define the objectives of antitrust law, enabling the public, enforcers, and judges to better distinguish between business practices that should be encouraged or condemned.