In 2017, NASL filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. And while twitter pundits claim to understand the ins and outs of the suit, I asked the source to boil it down do a couple of sentences. “What we have alleged in that lawsuit is that: first, MLS conspired with USSF to prevent NASL from trying to become a Division One league, in competition with MLS. And then, after that, conspired with USSF to apply their professional league standards in a very discriminatory way to take away the Division Two sanctioning from NASL and give it to USL at the time and basically drive NASL out of existence as a result.” Those are the words of Jeffery Kessler, one of the attorneys who will argue the case to a jury in September, who spoke with Protagonist Soccer today.

That case, North American Soccer League v. United States Soccer Federation, has been delayed repeatedly since its filing seven years ago. Those delays can be blamed on COVID, other cases taking precedence, a changing of the presiding judge, but the case is now scheduled to be heard by a jury in just a few months. For American soccer fans in the know, the Federation finally have to defend its treatment of MLS and its mistreatment of other leagues who have sought to compete with the Division One league.

And while the case had dropped from the public consciousness for the most part, the USSF’s battle with MLS over the Open Cup has brought it back to the forefront. While others have summed up that battle effectively, the bare bones of the argument is that MLS sought to pull its clubs out of the competition and instead represent itself through MLS Next Pro teams. It argued that match congestion (which many point out is a “problem” BECAUSE MLS created Leagues Cup) had made the US Open Cup too big of a burden on its clubs. However, professional league standards (PLS) dictate that Division One leagues must participate in the Open Cup and teams managed by a professional club are banned from participation. The Federation flat out refused MLS’ proposal, but, over the next several weeks, the two parties seemed to reach a compromise. MLS would send 8 MLS clubs and MLS Next Pro teams to the tournament. And because this agreement obviously flies in the face of PLS and the rules of the USOC, it seemed to give a big trump card to Kessler and the NASL team.

Kessler sees the move as more of the same from the Federation. “A good portion of our case is based on the idea that these professional league standards have never been applied to MLS and have only been applied to protect MLS or others from competition. For example, for twelve years in the early days of MLS, the standards weren’t applied to MLS at all, even though they existed to keep others out. And MLS couldn’t have met the standards in those years…what’s happened with the Open Cup is just another example that the professional league standards only apply to leagues other than MLS. When MLS doesn’t want to comply, it doesn’t have to comply. So yes, we think that this is supportive of our whole case that these standards have been used, not for any good purpose in soccer, but just to protect MLS from competition.”

While the case, now 7 years in the making, has been ready for a judge and jury for a while now, the USOC decision will certainly become part of the argument Kessler and his team argue in September. “I’m sure it will find its way somewhere into the trial,” he said with a sly grin and a pause, “because people will be testifying live, so they can testify about things that have happened.” He laughed as he finished that sentence. “I see it as totally consistent with what all our other evidence shows. We didn’t need this to happen…but this obviously is another example.” Kessler’s confidence comes from years of successfully arguing similar cases, including the recent successful battle over equal pay for the USWNT. He’s not a man to be trifled with.

Whether the Federation considered the NASL lawsuit and its impending jury trial when it decided to let MLS off the USOC hook is hard to say. What is clear from today’s conversation with Jeffery Kessler is that the USSF handed another ace to a hand that didn’t need that kind of insurance. When the cards hit the table in September, we’ll find out how costly that move was and if it ends PLS for soccer in the United States.

- Dan Vaughn