After last week's decision by U.S. District Court Judge
George O'Toole to throw out a major part of a lawsuit
brought by eight MLS players challenging the league's
single-entity structure (see THE DAILY, 4/20), the DALLAS
MORNING NEWS' Richard Alm noted that the suit "will
continue" at a September 18 trial where O'Toole will
consider other arguments, including the allegation that MLS
"conspired" with the USSF "to inhibit rival Division 1
leagues." But MLS COO Mark Abbott said, "For all intents
and purposes, the case is over and ... MLS has won." MLS
players' attorney Jeffrey Kessler said that he "would
appeal" O'Toole's decision. Kessler: "This doesn't change
their antitrust exposure" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/21). In
L.A., Grahame Jones called the decision a "significant
victory" for MLS and "one that might have repercussions in
other sports." Abbott, on the cost of defending the
lawsuit: "I don't have the exact number, but it's
multimillions of dollars so far. I think what's fair to say
is, we've had less money to spend on everything that we want
to do." Jones noted that the NFLPA "reportedly had been
funding" the lawsuit, but Abbott said that he "doubted"
whether many MLS players "fully supported it." Abbott: "I
think, frankly, that the vast majority of our players were
not really engaged in this lawsuit" (L.A. TIMES, 4/21).
Abbott: "It's hard for me to speculate on how the players
might feel, although my hope would be that they'd feel
positive about this. ... We think that they were ill-advised
by some people to pursue a lawsuit as opposed to
negotiation" (K.C. STAR, 4/23).
WHERE DOES MLS GO FROM HERE? In DC, Eric Fisher wrote
that MLS' "big legal victory ... represents the latest in a
growing list of management wins." But despite the court
decision "on a start-up league," the story "on the field or
on the balance sheet remains a far different story." MLS
and the WNBA, the "two most mature flag-bearers of single-
entity, have yet to overcome their" startup costs and show a
profit. But Fordham Univ. School of Business law professor
Mark Conrad said of the court decision: "This was a very
reasoned opinion, and one that will give the WNBA, XFL,
[WUSA] and other league[s] using or considering single-
entity a big sigh of relief. They're not necessarily
jumping for joy, but relieved" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 4/23). In
DC, Mark Asher wrote that if O'Toole's ruling is "upheld,"
it "would place a higher burden on player plaintiffs in
proving a violation of antitrust laws" (WASHINGTON POST,
4/21). ESPN.com's Jamie Trecker wrote O'Toole's "decision
may prove to be a poisonous one for sport in general: With
the decision, many other established leagues may move to
this corporate model as a way to hold down costs." Trecker
added that MLB is "assuredly moving toward that model" and
the WNBA and WUSA "will now be able to safely continue
business as usual." Trecker: "This is nice for the owners,
but bad for the players." Trecker also wrote that with
O'Toole's decision, MLS management "can't hide behind the
lawsuit as an excuse for not spending money on, well, just
about anything. In the coming months, will we see the
promised stadia actually get built?" (ESPN.com, 4/23).
