NASL Files Federal Antitrust Lawsuit Against US Soccer

I thought about the SA situation and I do believe that was one of the turning points in the NASL/USL saga.

Many cries about how fans there would stop coming out because of the change.

Of course the fans didn't care all that much. The overwhelming majority prove time and again that this stuff isn't all that important to them....unilke the loud, emotionally challenged minority.

When the fanbase wasn't really affected all that much the "we are D2 and they aren't rants", along with the "real fans won't be MLS patsy" cries lost all meaning to most potential owners.

Business wan't compromised.....I'll go with the more stable bet. Not a surprise.

 

Silva cares about only one thing. Broadcast rights. He wants in. He doesn't care about US Soccer, the good of the game, pro/rel (unless he can use it ot cah in), anything. He is a snake. Plain and simple.

I have dealt with many in my years. He is the selfish, wall street, burn everything down, so I can get mine stereotype if there ever was one. The fact that there are people, and kids, ignorant and naive enough to believe him shows their aptitudes/youth in spades.

 

you are right, as long as nothing else happens, with this case, nothing to fear.

But the moment, one federal attorney decides to start "sniffing" with his nose in the USSF administration, it will be "government interference", which is exactly the same kind of stuff that currently had Zimbabwe, Kuwait and Indonesia, being expelled from the current WC qualifiers.

As posted before, tough days coming for fans, as it will be them the ones most affected if anything of this does happens.
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In any case if it helps you in anything, FIFA is corrupt up to the core, so when it gets to all the money they might lose, they might make an exception here.

 

It's occurred to me that a pro/rel league may be much more likely to run afoul of US antitrust laws than the current situation. That's because USSF has already shown a willingness to sanction more than one league at the same level, both by sanctioning USL and NASL as concurrent D2 leagues in the same geographic area, and by assuring the NASL that it would have to sanction two D1 leagues if both meet the D1 requirements. By contrast, a pro/rel pyramid would necessarily lock a single league into D1 status and any lower-division league splits would have to be geographic (otherwise, how do you decide which league to relegate a team into?) -- this would seem much more anticompetitive than the status quo.

 

I will just say that Silva isn't a Wall Street guy, I work in the industry and he wouldn't fit in.

 

Why would a federal attorney get involved in a private lawsuit? That doesn't generally happen unless there's a significant public interest or potential criminal charges involved. Neither appears to be the case here. While the Department of Justice does have an antitrust division, it normally initiates antitrust suits on its own, and sues on behalf of consumers rather than competing businesses. It is in fact prohibited from participating in most private antitrust suits, which tend to be filed by businesses trying to compete with the alleged cartels.

 

The injunction they're requesting is the key bit, if they get it then this will drag on for a while if they don't then I can see everyone not named Miami United and Cosmos leave NASL or fold.

 

I'm not surprised. I knew it would come down to this eventually if the NASL didn't get their way.

 

The really stunning thing is that it appears Edmonton wasn't even informed there would be a vote and only found out about the lawsuit after the fact.

 

So with NC rumored to have been against the action, 2/8 of the active teams were against it.

If NC and/or Edmonton have a semblance of agreement with other leagues to join for 2018, they could make this very ugly for the NASL. The Cosmos et al are banking on teams not choosing to sue/complain about the lawsuit because it ruins their futures as well. If NC and Edmonton's future is decided, it could get ugly if they choose to.

 

WHAT
A
SHITSHOW!!!

I mean wow to not only not get everyone on board with this but to not even include a team which owners have shares in the league takes some serious stones man.

 

Cosmos fans are furious

 

FILING the lawsuit creates literally zero risk. Anyone can file any damn thing, and it's far, far more likely that the US will win the 2018 World Cup than that FIFA will ban them because some idiots filed a lawsuit.

Now, if they win the lawsuit, the risk becomes higher than zero. Even higher than our chances in 2018.

 

My comments on Haisley's Deadspin articles are both better written and better researched than his. Where am I cited?

 

I'm looking for when Commisso became chair of the Board of Governors, and it just keeps looking fishier and fishier.

The last publicly acknowledged chair, Mark Frisch, apparently served from September 2015 to January 2017. When he was elected, there was an official press release from the league, and there were mentions in various other news outlets. There was never any public mention of him stepping down when it happened, but I would assume it happened when he announced he was looking to sell the Jacksonville Armada. On January 27, 2017, interim commissioner Rishi Sehgal told WRAL that the position was vacant.

There appears to be literally nothing about Commisso being elected as chair.

Since Commisso is a relatively new owner, I'm starting to wonder if he was elected in the very same meeting (with Edmonton and NC apparently not present) in which the board voted to sue. It smells like a coup.

 

???

This is a civil suit. Federal attorneys aren't involved.

You're coming across as either a troll, or someone who is from Chile who (understandably) doesn't know anything about our legal system and also (less understandably) is in this thread making assertions rather than asking questions.

 

No doubt about it. And the Federation surely expected it. They would likely ha e been shocked if there wasn't a suit.

1) I think my definition of the word arbitrary must be different than theirs. They refer again and again to arbitrary standards, but asking that a team have a suitable place to play in is hardly arbitrary, it's simple math.

2) Its clear that there's some kind of curse that goes with owning the Cosmos that makes you an asshole.

3) MLS is an investor owned company. No court in the US is going to rule that the owners must award partial league ownership to someone who thinks that would be nice.

4) I hope Commisso and Silva get boils and their dicks fall off.

 

FIFA only picks on the small and the weak.

 

Nothing arbitrary about that.

 

You might be right on the fact I'm from Chile (as I am), and that maybe I might not know so well how the "your" legal system works (also true).

But antithrust laws in the US, by definition are of competence of federal authorities and local government. If it is a civil suit or not, the moment you invoque them, you are making it a Federal case.

And no, I'm not trolling here. Just pointing out a fact.

FIFA doesn't like government interference in any way or form when it gets to its member associations or their respective affiliates. For FIFA, all the issues it involves them, must be solved within closed doors, with no external involvement (sole exception, is the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sports).

 

Eh....not when it comes to a cash cow.