This has been on our radar, and it will continue to be, but I wanted to flag an article by Florio on how the American Needle antitrust case will affect the CBA negotiations. Short versions: the league might be waiting for the Supreme Court decision before proceeding with the real CBA negotiations.
The case, involving a challenge to the league’s ability to enter into an exclusive headgear license with Reebok, turns on whether the NFL constitutes a single entityfor the purposes of the specific antitrust law at play in that case.
If the league isn’t a single entity, then the process of coming together and deciding to do business with only one company violates antitrust laws.
Munson fears that the league would then parlay a favorable ruling into an attempt to take the position that the league is completely immune from any and all antitrust claims under each and every antitrust law. Most importantly, the league could take the position that the union would not be able to decertify and sue the league under antitrust law as an attack on various rules (such as the draft, free agency, and salary) that the league would then apply to all 32 franchises.
The problem is that such a position, in our view, would make it difficult for the league to avoid the argument in other legal contexts that players and coaches are employees only of the team, and not employees of the league itself.
We’re going to be breaking down the American Needle case in more detail soon.
