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Upcoming Supreme Court Case, Part III (Fin)
By Tony Snyder | December 12, 2009
The last case serves as a reward for those of you that dutifully followed these posts. Enjoy…
American Needle v. National Football League
For the sports fan out there, listen up! The Supreme Court is going to determine whether the sports leagues should (hold on to your hats) be exempt from antitrust regulations. Wait, wait, wait! Please don’t surf over to some other website, keep reading!
Prior to 2000 the American Needle Company had contracted with NFL teams to produce hats and headgear with the official team logos imprinted/embroidered. But the decision by the NFL to give an exclusive league-wide license to Reebok in 2000 led American Needle to sue, alleging the NFL’s actions had violated the Sherman Antitrust Act by limiting the market on who could and could not produce team-branded merchandise.
The issue for the court to decide is whether the NFL is a single entity or a collection of 32 individual businesses. Why is that important, you ask? If the NFL is deemed to be a single entity, it would give the league the ability to make grandiose decisions on a league-wide basis. This would include, but is not limited to, the production of licensed merchandise, ticket prices and player salaries—as opposed to the individual teams that currently exercise those decision-making privileges. Lastly, the bargaining power of the NFL Players Union is based on antitrust legislation that the league would largely be immune to if it receives a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court.
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