The United States Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer on Tuesday defeated an appeal by the North American Soccer League, which operated between 2011 and 2017, in a case that threatens more than $500 million in damages. NASL claims U.S. Soccer and MLS illegally conspired to refuse to recognize NASL as a Division II league.
In a summary order issued by Second Circuit Clerk Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, and following review by Circuit Judges Dennis Jacobs, Barrington Parker and Raymond Lohier Jr., the Second Circuit rejected NASL’s argument that it was not required to prove a relevant market—meaning an area of competition subject to antitrust scrutiny—to sustain its antitrust claims. Wolfe wrote that NASL “waived” that argument at several points in the litigation and is thus barred from raising it on appeal.
The appeal follows a federal jury in New York last year siding with U.S. Soccer and MLS. NASL insisted that USSF wrongly classified it as a Division III league, which is the lowest of three divisions and influences how fans, media and broadcasters regard a soccer league in terms of quality and prestige. U.S. Soccer disputed this argument. It maintained the classification was appropriate in light of various factors including minimum stadium seating capacity, number of teams and time-zone coverage.
