Are Professional Sports Leagues Single Entities Incapable of Conspiring in Violation of the Sherman Act?: The Supreme Court Ponders Whether to Decide the Issue in American Needle v. NFL

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Steven Semeraro, May 27, 2009

This article reviews the case law assessing the single-entity defense and evaluates the American Needle decision. Professional sports leagues have long been magnets for antitrust claims, because their rules, policies, and contracts can be viewed as the product of an agreement among independently-owned teams that both play in and direct the league. Popular sports leagues also have substantial power in