USFL v. NFL case brief

USFL v. NFL case brief summary
842 F.2d 1335 (1988)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Plaintiffs appealed a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York awarding plaintiffs one dollar in damages, pursuant to a jury verdict, in plaintiffs' lawsuit alleging violations of the common law and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C.S. §§ 1,2. Defendants filed a conditional cross-appeal.

CASE FACTS
Plaintiffs filed suit against defendants, alleging violations of the common law and §§1, 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C.S. §§ 1, 2. The jury awarded plaintiffs one dollar in damages after finding that defendants had willfully acquired or maintained monopoly power in a market consisting of major-league professional football in the U.S. and that such monopolization had injured plaintiffs. The jury rejected plaintiffs' remaining claims. The trial court denied plaintiffs' post-trial motions and entered judgment in accordance with the jury verdict.

DISCUSSION

• On appeal, the court affirmed both the jury's verdict and the district court judgment entered thereon. 
• The anti-competitive activities on which the jury based its verdict were not of sufficient impact to justify a large damages verdict or sweeping injunctive relief. 
• Moreover, the lower court's instructions to the jury were proper, and plaintiffs' challenges to the lower court's evidentiary rulings were without merit.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the jury's verdict and the judgments entered thereon, holding that that the anti-competitive activities on which the jury based its verdict did not justify a large damages verdict or sweeping injunctive relief; defendants' conditional cross-appeal was therefore moot.

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