Chicago Professional Sports, Ltd. & WGN v. NBA (Bulls I)
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
961 F.2d 667 (7th Cir. 1992)
The NBA (defendant) granted exclusive national broadcasting rights to NBC and TNT and then separately restricted all local "superstations" like WGN to no more than 20 Bulls broadcasts per season; the Bulls' ownership and WGN (plaintiffs) sued, arguing this output limitation violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, while the NBA argued the restriction was a lawful ancillary restraint protected by the Sports Broadcasting Act. The district court sided with the Bulls and WGN and enjoined the 20-game limit, and the NBA appealed.
Whether the Sports Broadcasting Act protects a sports league's restriction limiting the number of games individual teams may broadcast through local superstations, and whether that restriction constitutes an unreasonable restraint of trade under the Sherman Act absent such protection.