In a case with "important implications for labor relations
in professional sports," the U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to
decide whether NFL owners violated federal antitrust law when
they imposed a salary cap of $1,000 a week for practice players
during the '89 season, according to Linda Greenhouse of the N.Y.
TIMES. The $30M antitrust judgment the players won in '93 after
a jury trial was overturned by a federal Appeals Court on the
grounds that actions by owners "in any phase of the collective
bargaining process are exempt from antitrust scrutiny." The case
is attracting "widespread attention" through sports, but also the
entertainment industry. In precedents dating to the mid-40s, the
Supreme Court has shielded contracts reached through bargaining
between a union and a "multi-employer management group" from
antitrust laws -- through the nonstatutory labor exemption. The
Court will now decide whether that exemption "also applies to the
period after bargaining has broken down and there is no
contract." The players' case, Brown v. Pro Football Inc., was
supported by the Clinton Administration (N.Y. TIMES, 12/9). A
decision by the Supreme Court is expected this summer (Mult.,
12/9).
POTENTIAL IMPACT: In L.A., David Savage reports, "Lawyers
say the matter goes far beyond sports and could tip the balance
of power between management and labor in many other areas where
workers bargain with several companies" (L.A. TIMES, 12/9). The
WALL STREET JOURNAL also notes the "broad ramifications" the case
could have for other industries. Unions for MLB and the NHL
supported the NFL players by arguing "that a broad antitrust
exception would encourage owner intransigence and lead to even
more of the strikes and lockouts that have marred pro sports in
recent years" (Paul Barrett, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/11). The
Supreme Court agreed, according to Denniston & Snyder of the
Baltimore SUN, "to consider giving unionized athletes a right to
go to court instead of on strike to get what they want from
management" (Baltimore SUN, 12/9).
