Level playing field

Meaning:

• Fair competition, where no advantage is shown to either side.

Origin:

• This phrase clearly alludes to the requirement for fairness in games which are played from end to end and where a slope would give one team and advantage, e.g. football. The figurative use of the phrase isn't especially old and the first record I can find of it is from the Tyrone Daily Herald, January 1977: "Our philosophy is that we have no problem competing with the mutual savings banks if they start from the level playing field," Bolger said. [John Bolger, lobbyist for the US Bankers Association]
• This harks back to another American phrase, from about a century before - on the level. This is first recorded in George Burnham's Memoirs of the United States Secret Service, 1872: "On the level, meeting a man with honorable intentions."

Level playing field

Financial & Investment Dictionary: Level Playing Field

Condition in which competitors operate under the same rules. For example, all banks must follow the same regulations set down by the Federal Reserve. In some situations, competitors complain to regulators or Congress that they are not playing on a level playing field. For example, banks contend that brokerage firms can offer certain banking services without the same rules imposed on banks. Companies wanting to export to a particular country may complain that domestic companies are protected by various trade barriers, creating an uneven playing field. Various sections of the tax code may favor some companies more than others, prompting cries from the disadvantaged firms to "level the playing field."