A federal jury has found in favor of the U.S. Soccer Federation and MLS in the antitrust lawsuit filed against the two entities by the North American Soccer League.
The verdict, which the NASL will likely appeal, amounts to a significant victory for the USSF and MLS, and is the culmination of a seven-year process that began in September of 2017, when the USSF denied the NASL’s application to be classified as a Division 2 league. The NASL filed its lawsuit shortly thereafter.
The NASL, the second American league to use that name, operated from 2011-17 as a second tier league underneath MLS. But it went on hiatus in 2018 following the USSF’s aforementioned decision.