Tribune News Services
| The Supreme Court on Monday turned away the National Football League’s request for broad antitrust law protection, ruling that the league can be considered 32 separate teams — not one big business — when it comes to selling branded items like jerseys and caps.

The high court unanimously reversed a lower
court ruling throwing
out an antitrust suit brought against the league by one of its former
hat makers, Buffalo Grove-based American Needle Inc., who was upset that it lost its contract for making official
NFL hats to Reebok.

American Needle
claimed the league violated antitrust
law because all 32 teams worked together to freeze it out of the
NFL-licensed hatmaking business. The company lost and appealed to the
Supreme Court, but the NFL did as well, hoping to get broader protection
from antitrust lawsuits.

Get the full story: Court says NFL is 32 teams, not single business.