American Needle vs. NFL

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

The current system has its flaws, but its worked incredibly well. Even if the NFL wins this suit, I hope theyre smart enough to avoid going back to those dark days. Free agency has to stay. Now, i'd be fine if teams could slap a franchise tag on a player indefinitely, so long as they continued to pay the player the average of the top 5 players at that position plus 10% each year.

I agree. IMO One reason why the NFL is so much more popular than other sports is because of the competitive balance that free agency and the salary cap have brought. No teams can hoard talent through ridiculous spending that other teams could never match, which seems to be the scene in baseball.

Maybe the court will rule that the NFL is one entity in terms of marketing but not in terms of labor. This will leave American Needle crying but it will preserve the leverage that players need to keep the owners from ending free agency.

[53Fan]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Yes. But what we saw decades ago was even worse. Because owners could do whatever they wanted, some chose to be super cheap, even if it meant losing. Those who were truly interested in winning built impregnable dynasties. So there was not much competitive balance, whether one drafted well or not. On Sept. 1 of each year you knew who was going to win and who was going to lose, more or less. Teams rarely went worst to first or the other way around as they do now. As much as football was great even then, it was more boring than the relatively wide open cap era.

It also was, arguably, an assault on the democratic free market. If I am a plumbing assistant, I can sell my services to whatever plumbing company will pay me the most. But without free agency, players have no opportunity to sell their services to the highest bidder. They are shut out from finding a market-based wage.

I have no problem with free agency, it's the American way and people should be allowed to freely make the most they can get. It's free agency combined with the salary cap that bothers me. You may want a player and would like to sign him to a large amount but the cap restricts what you can offer him. You could cut a player to get under the cap and sign the other player, but it may be a player you would like to keep and once he's cut he may not make from another team what you were paying him. It does give an advantage I suppose to those who are able and willing to spend more, but isn't that the way life is outside of the NFL?

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by Lotus

I agree. IMO One reason why the NFL is so much more popular than other sports is because of the competitive balance that free agency and the salary cap have brought. No teams can hoard talent through ridiculous spending that other teams could never match, which seems to be the scene in baseball.

Maybe the court will rule that the NFL is one entity in terms of marketing but not in terms of labor. This will leave American Needle crying but it will preserve the leverage that players need to keep the owners from ending free agency.

That seems like the reasonable conclusion, if it is able to be legally justified.

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

That seems like the reasonable conclusion, if it is able to be legally justified.

That's why we need JoeRedskin!

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by Lotus

That's why we need JoeRedskin!

He certainly has gone into hiding, but in his defense (which I hate to do!) he has been massively swamped lately. Maybe today will be the day he comes to the rescue.

[SmootSmack]

We need JoeRedskin or Sheriff Gonna Getcha

[JoeRedskin]

Guys... I will be addressing this over the weekend. Anti-trust is not my area and, trust me, it is really a specialization. Haven't had a chance to do some research but will try to get to it this weekend.

Just been a bit busy this week doing legal work for those who pay me to do it.

[tryfuhl]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Guys... I will be addressing this over the weekend. Anti-trust is not my area and, trust me, it is really a specialization. Haven't had a chance to do some research but will try to get to it this weekend.

Just been a bit busy this week doing legal work for those who pay me to do it.

Thanks man!

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Guys... I will be addressing this over the weekend. Anti-trust is not my area and, trust me, it is really a specialization. Haven't had a chance to do some research but will try to get to it this weekend.

Just been a bit busy this week doing legal work for those who pay me to do it.

There ya go putting others ahead of those who really count on you again, geez man, some people here need ya. Not me of course!

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Guys... I will be addressing this over the weekend. Anti-trust is not my area and, trust me, it is really a specialization. Haven't had a chance to do some research but will try to get to it this weekend.

Just been a bit busy this week doing legal work for those who pay me to do it.

I'll throw in a buck.

[mcarey032]

If FA went away, what would Dan Snyder do every off season? We would be stuck with bad players for a long time, but I guess that beats going out and getting players who were passed their prime.

[saden1]

NFL will win...they're a single entity but the players have the right to unionize and protest through lockout. As for fans, they can protest ticket prices by not going to the games. The current system is perfectly fine.

[JoeRedskin]

Okay, so I am going to completely wuss out on this. Here is an excellent article which sums up that which I spent this weekend reading about:

Why American Needle v. NFL is most important sports case - Michael McCann - SI.com

Essentially, I believe saden is correct - regardless of the "single entity" theory - nothing prohibits the players from negotiating a CBA through their union. Baseball already has an anti-trust exception and its players move readily enough.

While this case may create lots and lots of work for attorneys as they sort through and memorialize the structural changes that will occur as a result of an affirmance of the 7th Circuits position, I don't believe it will fundamentally change the way players and club owners deal with each other. Unless the players agree to it, there is not going to be a roll back to the 1970's when it comes to owners "ownership" of players.

[FRPLG]

Yeah I think this is much-a-do.

The SC is a conservative leaning bunch but isn't 9 ultra-conservatives. They'll confirm the 7th's, pass on the NFL's proposed interpretation and call it a day. NFL has nothing to lose though...they know the SC won't overturn the 7th's. They're swinging for the fences with the bases loaded and no outs. Poor American Needle has to continue to fight this even though it really no longer is about them at all.

[Dirtbag59]

I hope the American Needle wins, if nothing more then give Madden some competition on the video game front as well as making NFL games available on other networks like Comcast.