In anticipation of the OSAA playoffs coming up, it is important to familiarize yourself with monopolies, their history and legal significance. Here is a link to a wikipedia article to get you started-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act_of_1890

And, here is a link to a page with information on NFHS attempts to create a monopoly in high school sports in Oregon:
http://www.oregonsportsbeat.com/rights/

The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890^[1] (26 Stat. 209, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7) is a United States antitrust law that regulates competition among enterprises, which was passed by Congress under the presidency of Benjamin Harrison.

The Sherman Act broadly prohibits (1) anticompetitive agreements and (2) unilateral conduct that monopolizes or attempts to monopolize the relevant market. The Act authorizes the Department of Justice to bring suits to enjoin (i.e. prohibit) conduct violating the Act, and additionally authorizes private parties injured by conduct violating the Act to bring suits for treble damages (i.e. three times as much money in damages as the violation cost them). Over time, the federal courts have developed a body of law under the Sherman Act making certain types of anticompetitive conduct per se illegal, and subjecting other types of conduct to case-by-case analysis regarding whether the conduct unreasonably restrains trade.

The law attempts to prevent the artificial raising of prices by restriction of trade or supply.^[2] “Innocent monopoly”, or monopoly achieved solely by merit, is perfectly legal, but acts by a monopolist to artificially preserve that status, or nefarious dealings to create a monopoly, are not. The purpose of the Sherman Act is not to protect competitors from harm from legitimately successful businesses, nor to prevent businesses from gaining honest profits from consumers, but rather to preserve a competitive marketplace to protect consumers from abuses.^[3]