Speech: A Different Look at Compliance in American Professional Sports: Why the NFL Personal Conduct Policy Might Be More Illegal than the Very Conduct It Seeks to Regulate

Abstract:     
This speech discusses why the NFL Personal Conduct Policy, in itself, might be illegal, much like some of the behavior it seeks to regulate. The speech begins with a discussion of the NFL Personal Conduct Policy. It then turns to the underlying economic harms caused by the policy. Finally, the speech concludes with a brief discussion of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and why, by enforcing the NFL Personal Conduct Policy, the NFL team-owners themselves might be out of compliance with U.S. federal law.

This speech is best read alongside Professor Edelman’s 2009 Catholic University Law Review article, entitled “Are Commissioner Suspensions Any Different from Illegal Group Boycotts?”

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Accepted Paper Series