American Needle v. NFL

In a decision with far-reaching consequences, the Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of plaintiff American Needle in its antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. The origins of the lawsuit stem from 2000 when American Needle lost its contract to make officially-licensed NFL hats when the NFL signed an exclusive licensing contract with Reebok. Throughout the lawsuit’s circuitous course through the court system, American Needle has sustained that the NFL’s actions violated antitrust laws because the league acted as a single entity, while American Needle contended that the league should be recognized as 32 separate teams. In explaining the Court’s decision, Associate Justice John Paul Stevens said: “To a firm making hats, the Saints and the Colts are two potentially competing suppliers of valuable trademarks.”