The NFL players union official was succinct in his summation of the most significant sports legal case in history, which is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. His words almost knock you out of your chair.
"This case could end sports as we know it," the union official said. "It could change everything. We'd be back in the Bronze Age."
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| American Needle vs. the NFL is under consideration in the U.S. Supreme Court. (Getty Images) |
"Go look at the case," the official said, "and then tell me I'm wrong."
I did. He's not.
This isn't union posturing or scare tactics. If the NFL wins this case -- which is immensely complicated and was first examined in meticulous detail by legal writer Lester Munson and further explored by me with a variety of sources who asked not to be identified since the case is pending -- it would basically amount to a nuclear winter for sports and fans.
The case is commonly called American Needle vs. the NFL. It started as a rather pedestrian court case but has evolved into something much more engrossing. The case is difficult and overflowing with mind-numbing legal issues but it -- mostly -- boils down to two important issues: antitrust and free agency.
Antitrust laws are the protective shielding that makes economic competition thrive and protects consumers. If the NFL wins the Supreme Court case, the league wouldn't be viewed as 32 different teams. The law would see them as one entity. That means it would be difficult for anyone to establish an antitrust claim against the NFL, which would allow football to lower player salaries (and coaching ones) and raise prices on everything from tickets to that jersey you're wearing now.
The leagues would also retain more control over how their games are broadcast. If the NFL is successful in Needle, it might be only a matter of time before networks are told to pack their cameras and bolt and the NFL is charging customers to watch games on free television.
"In a nutshell, the significance of [Needle] lies not in the particulars of the case but rather, in whether the court rules that the NFL is a single entity as an industry or 32 separate businesses competing against each other," longtime NFL agent Brad Blank wrote to me in an e-mail. "The determination of that issue affects the antitrust exemption that Congress has bestowed upon the NFL for, among other reasons, the purpose of shared television revenues."
Without fear of antitrust suits, the sports leagues could also all but end free agency. An NFL win would be kryptonite to Curt Flood and a host of other landmark legal challenges that constructed the current sports landscape.
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| A.K.16: I hope the NFL does win. These player salaries are out of hand. Plus, there's a simple way to keep ticket prices down and free broadcasts... if they raise them or charge for TV, then don't pay. Stay away from the stadium and don't order the package to watch. That's the problem with this country; no one will stand up for anything. If people don't go to the games and don't buy the expensive merchandise than, guess what happens... prices comes down. This story is a huge overreaction unless you just can't say “No.” to the NFL. |
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| Mike Freeman: The issue is teams already raise ticket prices and fans still go. You'd think fans would've already had enough, but they still pay out the nose for everything. No one stands up to sports leagues because we're all sports addicts. |
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In effect, a favorable ruling for the NFL by the Supreme Court would give sports leagues unlimited power. They'd be the Klingons and we'd all be the Tribbles. That's because the sports leagues would basically be free of almost any legal worries. They could do what they want, when they want, and since most sports leagues are predisposed to greed, such increased power would certainly lead to much higher ticket and merchandise prices. Much higher.
The leagues would basically jell into one powerful conglomerate. The scenarios painted by legal experts and union officials are reminiscent of the fictional entity The Company from the Alien movies.
The recourse athletes would possess is limited but one thing is certain: The relative labor peace sports leagues have enjoyed for some years would be potentially polluted by lockouts and strikes. There is no way any of the unions would watch the basic elimination of free agency without using their most powerful weapon: a strike.
Some of you are rolling your eyes now in a typical Pavlovian response, only worrying about which round to pick T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the Fantasy draft, saying the Needle case is years away from being in effect, if it happens at all.
Maybe. The difference is while the NFL has tried similar legal challenges for decades and failed, the Supreme Court is now so conservative, the NFL has a decent chance to succeed. While predicting how the Supreme Court will rule is as dangerous as picking NFL games, this is the NFL's best chance.
And this is something that's not decades down the road; all of this could only be a few years away, if not sooner.
If you like sports, you should be damn scared.
Because if you think sports leagues are arrogant now, wait and see what happens if the NFL wins this case.
