Hubris

Writing in Legal Pulse, the conservative Washington Legal Foundation’s new blog, former deputy assistant attorney general Steven Bradbury points out that the National Football League shot itself in the foot by encouraging the Supreme Court to hear its antitrust licensing case, America Needle v. NFL [Download Here]. Fresh off wins in two lower court rulings, the NFL had hoped to get a blanket exemption from antitrust action in its commercial ventures. Instead, the Supremes split the baby (see our blog). Now the league will be stuck fighting “rule of reason” litigation in which courts will decide each restraint of trade lawsuit based on specific circumstances.