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US Soccer defeats failed league's antitrust lawsuit


Published on 2025-02-03 19:45:20 - Reuters
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  • The U.S. Soccer Federation won a jury verdict in Brooklyn on Monday in a civil antitrust case brought by a defunct league that had accused the group of an unlawful scheme to curb competition for top-tier men's professional soccer.

The U.S. Soccer Federation successfully defended itself in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the North American Soccer League (NASL), which accused the federation of monopolistic practices that led to the league's failure. The lawsuit, which began in 2017, claimed that U.S. Soccer's Division 1 standards were unfairly applied to favor Major League Soccer (MLS) and hinder competition from other leagues like NASL. U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn dismissed the case, stating that NASL failed to prove that U.S. Soccer's standards were anticompetitive or that they caused the league's demise. The judge also noted that NASL's own mismanagement and financial issues were significant factors in its collapse. This ruling marks a significant victory for U.S. Soccer, potentially setting a precedent for how soccer leagues are regulated in the U.S.

Read the Full Reuters Article at:
[ https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-soccer-defeats-failed-leagues-antitrust-lawsuit-2025-02-03/ ]