The Drubbing

American Needle is a small sports hat manufacturing company that you may have never heard of unless you’re a hat aficionado. But they are at the center of a Supreme Court case, pitted against the NFL, that has been building during 2009 and is set to kick off tomorrow. At the core of the argument is whether or not the NFL, a collection of individual teams, can act as a single entity. That is how the NFL signed their exclusive equipment and apparel deal with Reebok and that is how the NFL and Reebok have attempted to edge out American Needle from the lucrative apparel market.

Some chuckleheads would have you believe that the case will be just a blip on the sports legal radar screen, no matter which way the verdict falls. But predictions of what this case will do are far less important than the legal consequences such a decision could have. And doing just that, in mid-2009, Lester Munson painted a much scarier and far more realistic picture, if the NFL does prevail in this case.

• LeBron James, who had been expecting a free-agency bonanza when his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers expired after the 2009-2010 season, opens the 2010-11 season with … the Cavs, the only team with the right to sign him. Cleveland retains the NBA MVP by slotting his salary into the new league-wide scale.
• Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, the hottest commodity for every opening in the NFL over the past six months, signs on to be the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys … at a league-determined salary that will pay him far less than he’d have made if the Denver Broncos had chosen him over Josh McDaniels in 2009.
• The Ricketts family, new owner of the Chicago Cubs, scraps plans for its own cable channel because Major League Baseball has barred all such broadcasts, as well as webcasts, by individual teams.
• A young Detroit Red Wings fan who has saved his pennies for months shells out $300 to buy a replica sweater that would have cost him $80 in 2009.
• Lockouts and strikes loom large in all four major team sports as an era of relative peace on the sports labor front ends and owners begin to exercise their new power over player unions.

Drew Brees all Reebok-ed out

These are not guarantees, but these scenarios are very possible, again if the NFL wins the case. This weekend in the Washington Post, New Orleans Saints Quarterback Drew Brees told a similar and frightening story. Among the arguments he makes, Brees points out that price of an NFL hat has gone up 30-38% since the NFL inked their exclusive deal with Reebok. Now that is a real-world example of what this case could lead to. And even worse, that has already happened.

So if you really care about sports, because this court case will have ramifications across all sports, then keep an eye on this case when it kicks off on Wednesday. This could be big.