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| Judge Dismisses Heinz Field Antitrust Suit |
U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti granted a motion by the Steelers and the NFL to dismiss Robert Warnock’s suit “to invalidate the team’s Heinz Field lease on antitrust grounds,” according to Torsten Ove of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Flowers Conti said that Warnock does not “have standing to bring the complaint,” as his status as a taxpayer is not “enough to pursue antitrust claims without the support of Allegheny County or the Sports & Exhibition Authority, both of which refused to join” the suit. The ruling read, “In football terms, (Warnock) is like a spectator in the stands who is unable to challenge a disputed call by the referee because he does not hold the head coach’s red challenge flag.” But Warnock’s attorney William Helzlsouer noted that his client “might appeal based on another federal judge’s decision in a similar” suit, the ’03 case in Cincinnati that saw Hamilton County (OH) Commissioner Todd Portune sue the Bengals and the NFL “as a private citizen after his fellow commissioners wouldn’t agree to sue as a political entity” (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 2/11). Helzlsouer: “The Rooneys have benefited from this stadium to the tune of about $500[M]. They started out with a value of $323[M] for their franchise before the stadium opened, and after it opened, it went to $550[M]. Now, their franchise is worth $719[M]. Why are the taxpayers giving them a sandbox to play in?” (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 2/11).
