353: The NASL v. US Soccer/MLS Case - With Steven Bank

Most US and Canadian domestic soccer fans are certain that the second incarnation of the North American Soccer League (2011-17) officially met its untimely demise in early 2018, just a few months after the first-year San Francisco Deltas beat the New York Cosmos in the 2017 Soccer Bowl - and amidst a seemingly desperate/last-minute antitrust lawsuit alleging collusion between US Soccer and Major League Soccer to keep the league down.   While the NASL hasn't played another game since, the lawsuit - largely ideated and funded by spurned billionaire/Cosmos owner Rocco Commisso - is still very much alive, and now officially headed to trial beginning January 6th of next year.    At issue: whether the governing body of soccer in the US and/or its officially designated top-tier professional league conspired to exclude the NASL from Division I-sanctioned play, and schemed to monopolize the market for men’s pro soccer.   At stake: the future direction, competitive landscape and legal structure of American professional soccer.   We get a full primer on the history, rationale and likely outcomes of this stealthily persistent case, with UCLA law school professor, sports/soccer legal expert (and 1970s-era ASL Cleveland Cobras fan) Steven Bank - whose influential Twitter/X feed is an essential follow on all things law + soccer.    + + +   SUPPORT THE SHOW:

• "Good Seats" Show & Defunct Team Merch:  http://tee.pub/lic/RdiDZzQeHSY
• Buy Us a Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/goodseatsstillavailable

  SPONSOR THANKS:

• Royal Retros (promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2
• Old School Shirts.com (promo code: GOODSEATS) https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats

  FIND & FOLLOW:

• Website: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/
• X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/
• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable