The North American Soccer League (NASL) is pushing for a retrial in its protracted legal battle against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and Major League Soccer (MLS), after suffering a significant setback earlier this year when a jury sided unanimously with the USSF and MLS. The legal skirmish, which came to a head in a federal court in February, stems from a 2017 lawsuit in which NASL accused the national governing body and the premier soccer league of engaging in actions that effectively barred NASL from attaining Division I or Division II status.
This legal contention argues that the USSF’s decision not to certify NASL for these divisions hindered its ability to compete with MLS and ultimately led to NASL ceasing operations after the 2018 season. The suit claims that the USSF had conflicts of interest, particularly due to a business partnership between MLS’s marketing arm, Soccer United Marketing, and USSF.
Despite these serious allegations, lawyers representing USSF and MLS countered that NASL’s collapse was due to mismanagement and not sinister conspiracies. They noted NASL’s link to investor Aaron Davidson, who was embroiled in the 2015 FIFA bribery scandal, suggesting this connection and other managerial failings led to the league not meeting the standards for the desired certifications.
On the monetary front, experts initially pegged the potential damages at a staggering $500 million, which was later adjusted to $375 million by a judge after a request from the defense. However, the February jury found that NASL failed to demonstrate substantial harm in relevant markets, leading them to entirely dismiss the conspiracy claims lodged by NASL.
In a post-verdict statement in February, NASL expressed respect for the jury’s diligence but voiced concerns over purported legal oversights that they believed skewed the evidence and applicable legal standards against them. In their current push for a retrial, NASL’s lawyers criticized the jury instructions, suggesting they effectively set up the jury to dismiss NASL’s allegations, and decried what they termed the allowance of considerably prejudicial evidence during the trial.
USSF and MLS, who have lauded the jury’s original verdict, declined to comment on the renewed litigation effort. At the time of the verdict, MLS attributed the lawsuit to NASL’s attempt to shirk responsibility for its “own failures,” while underlining MLS’s continued efforts to nurture and elevate soccer in the U.S.
As this legal drama unfolds, NASL is also considering an appeal against the verdict, signaling that the dispute may be far from conclusion. NASL’s future actions and any potential retrial or appeal will undoubtedly remain a point of keen interest in the soccer community and continue to stir discussions on the governance and competitive landscape of the sport in the United States.
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