American Needle v. National Football League, et al., 560 U.S. _ (2010), 2010 WL 2025207.

If the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in American Needle v. National Football League. etal. were to be summarized in a single sports headline, it might well read, "American Needle Kicks Three Field Goals; Shuts Out NFL 9-0." In a relatively rare venture into antitrust permissibility in the sports industry, the nine Supreme Court justices handed plaintiff American Needle a unanimous win and gave a small Illinois embroidery company a chance to try its case against the National Football League (NFL) in federal court on remand. At the crux of the case lay an issue central to all of sports law--whether a league, in this case the NFL, should be (a) deemed a "single entity" and granted antitrust immunity for certain claims arising under Section I of the Sherman Act or (b) characterized as a joint venture of individual teams that compete against each other. For many years, American Needle had a contract to produce apparel for NFL teams. The contract was not renewed when the NFL partnered with a sole licensee, Reebok, in 2000. American Needle filed suit alleging that the exclusive NFL-Reebok merchandising contract represented an illegal restraint of trade under antitrust laws. The NFL defended against the lawsuit by arguing that the league, its affiliates, and teams were a single entity and, in turn, shielded from such antitrust inquiry. The purpose of this legal case brief is twofold. First, it will provide an overview of the decision and summarize the underlying legal rationale and doctrines. Second, it will discuss how the American Needle opinion may affect the sports industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]