The National Football League, its teams, and licensing partner Fanatics Inc. were hit with federal antitrust claims in San Francisco by a merchandise business and a consumer claiming they’ve conspired to monopolize NFL product sales through
The lawsuits, filed late Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuse the league of tilting the scales in favor of Fanatics, of which it’s a part-owner, through new onerous restrictions on Amazon sales by its competitors.
The rules require independent NFL merchandise sellers “to release all legal rights” against the league up front, just ...