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Court Denies New York Rangers Injunction Request to Block the NHL
On November 2, 2007 a judge refused the New York Rangers’ preliminary injunction request against the National Hockey League (“NHL”) for alleged anticompetitive practices in centrally controlling all of the NHL’s team websites. In coming to the decision, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska found not only that the Rangers had failed to meet the legal burden for obtaining the injunction as a result of anticompetitive restraint causing irreparable harm to the Rangers, but also that the NHL had in fact shown offsetting pro-competitive benefits in its actions.
The preliminary injunction sought by the Rangers’ relates to a suit filed on September 28, 2007 by its parent company, Madison Square Garden, L.P., in which it was alleged that the NHL was acting as an “illegal cartel” by requiring all NHL teams to turn over control of their websites to the NHL under threat of a $100,000 per day fine.
In rejecting the Rangers’ preliminary injunction motion Judge Preska noted the potential pro-competitive effects of the centralized control by recognizing “[t]he common technology platform [required by the NHL] will enable ... sponsors and advertisers to reduce transaction costs by negotiating centrally with the League.”
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