The NFL, SCOTUS, and a possible 2011 lockout

Washington Times article about the possibility of a lockout for the 2011 season.

An article in The Economist discussing the anti-trust case that this stand-off seems to be rooted in.



Basically, the NFL has been granted some anti-trust exemptions when it comes to broadcasting, etc.; however, anti-trust laws do still apply to the NFL in general. In the past, the NFLPA has used the anti-trust argument to gain bargaining position.

That could change.

When the NFL decided to go exclusively Reebok; a competitor, American Needle, filed an anti-trust suit. Now the case (American Needle v. NFL -- link to SCOTUS wiki) sits before the Supreme Court. If the NFL wins, they could get a much larger exemption from anti-trust laws and this would take some of the bargaining power from the NFLPA.



The Economist article outlined some possible implications if the court sides with the NFL:

If the NFL wins this blanket recognition, its owners’ position would strengthen relative to both players and fans. In the past, its players’ union has defeated policies designed to reduce salaries by filing successful antitrust claims. It would lose that weapon if the NFL is treated as a single entity, forcing it either to accept the owners’ future demands or to strike. Single-entity status would also allow teams in the same city to set ticket prices jointly, and permit the league to move its games from free broadcast television to paid cable.

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And from the American Needle v. NFL wiki:

The Court faces a clear-cut choice among ways to approach the decision in the American Needle case: it can engage in a fact-intensive inquiry, paying closest attention to the details of how the NFL and its teams handling their fan wear vending business, or it can broaden its vision to the role that joint ventures, an increasing business model, play in the Nation’s economy. The case has attracted most of its attention because it involves the highly visible phenomenon of professional sports. But, unless the Court produces a really narrow ruling on the case, anything it concludes may well produce significant legal guidance for joint ventures across a variety of markets.

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What do you think? Should the NFL be treated as a single body? Should the NFLPA just make the concessions so we can have a 2011 season?

Perhaps most importantly, is the apocalypse coming a year early?

Thoughts? This could be a big case for anti-trust law.