A federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action targeting Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA, and sports gear retailer Fanatics over alleged anticompetitive trading card pricing, Law360 reported. Keker, Van Nest & Peters represented MLB in the case.
Chief U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York said that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate standing when plaintiffs claimed that the licensing agreements between Fanatics and the professional sports leagues artificially inflated trading card prices for consumers.
The court called claims of injury “entirely conclusory and speculative,” noting that the plaintiffs failed to show they were harmed by Fanatics’ licensing agreements and that their allegations of inflated trading card prices were speculative. The ruling pointed out that when an amended complaint was filed, only two of five consumers claimed to have purchased the relevant baseball cards.
The Keker team representing MLB included Adam Lauridsen, Anjali Srinivasan, and Cody Harris.
Read the Law360 article here. (subscription required)
