The NFL's Day In Court

An article in this weeks "Parade" magazine reports that the Supreme Court will consider the question of whether the National Football League is a single entity or a collection of 32 teams. This all came about because Reebok signed a deal with the NFL for exclusive rights to use team logos on their sports apparel and American Needle, a competitor, sued the NFL under anti-trust laws. The league countered with the position that anti-trust rules should not be applied to the NFL, a single organization competing with other forms of entertainment for fans/viewers. In opposition is the opinion that teams compete with each other on things like ticket prices and player salaries and that declaring them a single entity would simply put more money in their pockets. Reebok is claiming that agreements like the one they made with the NFL makes quality products less expensive for fans. Now I'm just a Blind Bambi, but I don't think that in either case the fans will win. This decision may affect how money is split between owners, players, media companies covering the league, and companies marketing NFL merchandise. I can't really envision a scenario, however, where this decision would put more money in the pockets of fans.