Find a court case worth discussing.
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Matt B Iverson - Hampton v. Newport
Tony B Miranda v. Arizona
Joel C Wisconsin v. Yoder
Kate F Loubison v. St. Laurent
Julia G Roe v. Wade
Jennifer G NFL v. American Needle
Nick J Martin v. PGA Tour
Alex H Shelley V. Kraemer
Rachel L Bush v. Gore
Jory N Norman v. Honda
Anjali P Roper v. Simmons
Ali R Clinton impeachment
Navee S Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart
Pat S California v. O.J. Simpson
Nate T Gideon v. Wainwright
Johnny W Korematsu v. United States
Peter W Flood v. Kuhn
Josh H Plyler v. Doe
Madison L. Texas v. Johnson
USFL vs. NFL
by Tim D.
Southern District of New York, 1986
THE BACKGROUND
·
The
USFL
began in 1983 as a rival to the NFL, signing a number of players, paying them
big contracts and competing for fans’ loyalty
THE CASE
- The USFL sued the NFL for violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act,
which prohibits non-competition in American business
- The USFL sought damages of $567 million, which,
if they won, would be “trebled” – or tripled – because that’s what happens in
anti-trust cases
- The USFL accused the NFL of pressuring the TV
networks CBS, NBC and ABC to not televise USFL games
- They also accused the NFL of following the Porter
Presentation, a document which a professor proposed on how the NFL could
eliminate rival leagues
- The trial lasted 48 days, and the jury took five days to deliberate
THE RESULTS
- Finding for the plaintiff, the USFL, but only
for $1 in damages! Trebled damages
amounted to $3!
- The jury found the NFL did indeed have a
monopoly on professional football, but did not find that the NFL had controlled
or attempted to control the TV market
- The jury also felt that the USFL created a lot
of their own problems, including abandoning major markets and tried to adopt a
“merger strategy”, where they would be big enough and attractive enough to
eventually be acquired by the bigger league
AFTERMATH
- The USFL was stunned by the decision and never
recovered
- They never played another game, and ceased
operations in 1986, where many of their star players went to the NFL or
Canadian Football League
- Interestingly, the check for $3.76 (interest was
tacked on), was never cashed
- Though denied on appeals, the USFL was able to
get their attorneys’ fees back ($6-10 million)
MY THOUGHTS
- I think that capitalism is great, however, restricting
monopolistic and shady business practices should be one of the government’s
main functions, and so the USFL should have been given every opportunity to
compete
- ·
The USFL was an interesting league, but
certainly not on par with the NFL, as with any other upstart league, and I was
not surprised that they eventually folded, but surprised that this was the way
they went down
- ·
I thought the award was a joke, and if they felt
that way, the jury should have just found them not guilty
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