There Is No Competition Between Teams In The NFL?

by Dick Mac

A couple years ago, the NFL signed an exclusive agreement with Reebok to manufacture all apparel for all thirty-two NFL teams.

American Needle, a small company that had been manufacturing products for some teams cried foul and now charges that the NFL/Reebok contract violates anti-trust laws because it does not allow each business (team) to negotiate its own deal with manufacturers, thereby stunting competition.

The NFL argues that since the league is a single-entity, the 32 teams do not compete against one another.

Well, that's news to me! I thought that competition was the entire point of the NFL, but I guess the point is television ad sales and merchandising, after all.

Oral arguments were heard in the Supreme Court yesterday, and I suspect that things will not go well for the NFL. We'll see.

Supreme Court Notice (PDF)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court justices skeptical of NFL's effort to quash antitrust suit

Denver Post: Analysis: Supreme Court site of NFL battleground

American Needle v. NFL and the future of professional sports

Supreme Court justices skeptical of NFL's effort to quash antitrust suit

Oral arguments begin in American Needle vs. NFL