Fraser v. Major League Soccer was the first major legal battle waged by a nascent MLS, wherein eight players filed suit on antitrust grounds against the league, its investors and the US Soccer Federation.
The league was completing its first season in the fall of 1996 when the lawsuit was filed, but it wasn’t until four years later that the case went to trial.
Below are links to several court transcripts (these are all I have, sorry). The jury found MLS was a single entity and could not conspire to monopolize the market for Division I soccer players in the US, as the league competes with lower level loops and foreign circuits for soccer talent. The Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s ruling.
These may be useful for anyone writing about the current court case MLS is embroiled in, with the zombie North American Soccer League (whose attorney, coincidentally, is Jeffrey Kessler, who represented the players in Fraser).
- 09/19/2000 – Opening Statements 1
- 09/20/2000 – Opening Statements 2
- 09/21/2000 – Mark Dodd Testimony 1
- 09/21/2000 – Mark Dodd Testimony 2
- 09/22/2000 – Mark Dodd Testimony
- 09/25/2000 – Shawn Bowers Testimony
- 09/26/2000 – Rhett Harty Testimony 1
- 09/27/2000 – Rhett Harty Testimony 2
- 09/27/2000 – Steve Trittschuh Testimony
- 09/28/2000 – Mark Dougherty Testimony 1
- 10/02/2000 – Mark Dougherty Testimony 2
- 10/02/2000 – Mark Semioli Testimony 1
- 10/03/2000 – Mark Semioli Testimony 2
- 10/03/2000 – Ian Fraser Testimony
- 10/04/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 1
- 10/04/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 2
- 10/04/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 3
- 10/05/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 1
- 10/05/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 2
- 10/05/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 3
- 10/09/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 1
- 10/09/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 2
- 10/09/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 3
- 10/11/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 1
- 10/11/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 2
- 10/11/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 3
- 10/12/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 1
- 10/12/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 2
- 10/12/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 3
- 10/13/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 1
- 10/13/2000 – Sunil Gulati Testimony 2
- 10/27/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony
- 10/30/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony 1
- 10/30/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony 2
- 10/31/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony 1
- 10/31/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony 2
- 11/02/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony 1
- 11/02/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony 2
- 11/06/2000 – Alan Rothenberg Testimony