The Supreme Court has decided in American Needle v. the NFL, No. 08-661, that the National Football League Properties (NFLP) which was formed to develop, license, and market fan gear was not a single entity for antitrust purposes. In other words, the 32 teams could be violating anti-trust laws by licensing fan gear solely to Reebok in restraint of trade, which could have the effect of dampening competition. This case was brought by a small hat manufacturer whose license to sell football hats was not renewed when the NFLP gave Reebok the business for all 32 teams. This case was sent back to the trial court for further argument. As I wrote previously, Drew Brees argued very strongly against the NFLP being considered a single entity because of the potential for the NFLP getting around antitrust laws with respect to free agency, not just in the selling of hats. This seems to be the right decision as 32 teams which in fact compete with each other not just on the field, but also for fans, could carry a lot of clout in awarding contracts. By giving one license out to manufacturer fan gear, they prevented other manufacturers from competing with Reebok and keeping the prices down for all fans. Obviously, the NFLP has an interest in monitoring the licenses, as they receive royalties from these manufacturers, but it serves no purpose to limit the manufacturing and distribution to one entity.
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In the eyes of the law 
I feel that it is unfair for NFLP to limit the manufacturing and distribution to just one entity. As much as I love low prices of gear from my favorite nfl team, I still do not like the restrictions of this market. We live a market full of competition. It is not right to limit competition in this industry. Yes, Reebok can keep there prices low but they also jack up there prices when they feel like it, and there is no where to go to find the gear you want because no one else is making it. I feel like there is some shady business going on here, and that changes should be made giving other people the opportunity to make money as well…
It is no mystery that the NFLP is only concerned with itself. If the NFLP was in fact motivated by a desire to be fair to its fanbase then they would not designate a single entity to license and sell NFL merchandise. This only paves the way for potential price inflation and exploitation of the fans. This does not inherently mean that Reebok will take advantage of customers, however if they wanted to it would not be very hard to do so. This issue needs to be addressed and hopefully resolved in such a manner that will restore parity to all sides.
I have reason to side with Drew Brees on this issue. The NFLP should not be considered a single entity. Doing so would only encourage further franchises from following in their footsteps. As the previous person stated this does not mean that every single entity will seek to take advantage of their customers, however, it is heading in that direction. If franchises such as the NFLP is allowed to be a single entity then there is no reason why any other franchise would not do the same. Although, I am a huge NFL fan, I don’t think it would be wise or ethical to allow the NFLP to become one entity.
It is no surprise that the NFLP would want to create a monopoly on the fan merchandise market. However in a country which prides itself on a free market and encourages competition this cannot be allowed. If the United States allows one company to corner the market competition will no longer exist and the company who owns the market can charge as much as they see fit for their product. This reminds me of the monopoly that the American Bell Telephone Company used to have on the telephone service market. In 1984 a U.S. Justice Department mandate broke up this monopoly and created health competition once again between phone companies, driving down the price of telephone services. This is the same situation. Without competition it is all too easy for a singular entity to corner the market on something. What is especially dangerous about this though is that if this one entity fails the government would have no other choice than to take over the monopoly to save critical systems which would hurt this country if they disappeared. Just as the bailouts on Wall Street had to be done to save the economy from collapsing, if any type of monopoly system, such as the one the NFLP is trying to implement, failed, the government would have to intervene for the sake of the economy. A nation ran by government monopolies is a scarier possibility than monopolies held by just one company. So then, it is crucial to encourage a healthy competition between companies to ensure affordable prices on commodities for all peoples.