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The American Dream
What now? Q&A with NFL Network legal analyst Gabe Feldman
Is an antitrust lawsuit necessary to resolve the differences between owners and players?
"We don't have to go to a full antitrust lawsuit to get this resolved. We don't have to go through August or September. This can still get done in a week or two. The NFLPA has taken the first big step to try to get the owners to cave in a little bit, and that might work. It might not take the full lawsuit. The owners might say, 'You know what? It's not worth the full risk of this antitrust lawsuit. We could be not only turning over our books, but be responsible for three times the damages for any rules we implement.' That might be enough for them to say, "All right, you win. We'll give in $200 million. We'll make some more concessions.' So this could still get done in a couple of weeks. It doesn't have to be a three-, four- or six-month litigation process."
Is an antitrust lawsuit necessary to resolve the differences between owners and players?
"We don't have to go to a full antitrust lawsuit to get this resolved. We don't have to go through August or September. This can still get done in a week or two. The NFLPA has taken the first big step to try to get the owners to cave in a little bit, and that might work. It might not take the full lawsuit. The owners might say, 'You know what? It's not worth the full risk of this antitrust lawsuit. We could be not only turning over our books, but be responsible for three times the damages for any rules we implement.' That might be enough for them to say, "All right, you win. We'll give in $200 million. We'll make some more concessions.' So this could still get done in a couple of weeks. It doesn't have to be a three-, four- or six-month litigation process."