690 F.Supp. 812 (1988) Marvin POWELL, Brian Holloway, Michael Kenn, Michael Davis, James Lofton, Michael Luckhurst, Dan Marino, George Martin, Steve Jordan and the National Football League Players Association on behalf of themselves and all class members, Plaintiffs,
v.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE; The Five Smiths, Inc., d/b/a Atlanta Falcons; Buffalo Bills, Inc., d/b/a Buffalo Bills; Chicago Bears Football Club, Inc., d/b/a Chicago Bears; Cincinnati Bengals, Inc., d/b/a Cincinnati Bengals; Cleveland Browns, Inc., d/b/a Cleveland Browns; The Dallas Cowboys Football Club, Ltd., d/b/a Dallas Cowboys; PDB Sports, Ltd., d/b/a Denver Broncos; The Detroit Lions, Inc., d/b/a Detroit Lions; The Green Bay Packers, Inc., d/b/a Green Bay Packers; Houston Oilers, Inc., d/b/a Houston Oilers; Indianapolis Colts, Inc., d/b/a Indianapolis Colts; Kansas City Chiefs Football Club, Inc., d/b/a Kansas City Chiefs; The Los Angeles Raiders, Ltd., d/b/a Los Angeles Raiders; Los Angeles Rams Football Company, Inc., d/b/a Los Angeles Rams; Miami Dolphins, Ltd., d/b/a Miami Dolphins; Minnesota Vikings Football Club, Inc., d/b/a Minnesota Vikings; New England Patriots Football Club, Inc., d/b/a New England Patriots; The New Orleans Saints Limited Partnership, d/b/a New Orleans Saints; New York Football Giants, Inc., d/b/a New York Giants; New York Jets Football Club, Inc., d/b/a New York Jets; The Philadelphia Eagles Football Club, Inc., d/b/a Philadelphia Eagles; Pittsburgh Steelers Sports, Inc., d/b/a Pittsburgh Steelers; The St. Louis Football Cardinals, Inc., d/b/a St. Louis Cardinals; The Chargers Football Company, d/b/a San Diego Chargers; The San Francisco Forty-Niners, Ltd., d/b/a San Francisco 49ers; The Seattle Professional Football Club, d/b/a Seattle Seahawks; Tampa Bay Area NFL Football, d/b/a Tampa Bay Buccaneers; and Pro-Football, Inc., d/b/a Washington Redskins, Defendants. Civ. No. 4-87-917. United States District Court, D. Minnesota, Fourth Division.
July 11, 1988. *813 Edward M. Glennon, Carol T. Rieger, J. Michael Dady, Luke H. Terhaar, Charles J. Lloyd, and Lindquist & Vennum, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiffs; Richard A. Berthelsen, Washington, D.C., of counsel.
William T. Egan and Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendants; Covington & Burling, John H. Schafer, Paul J. Tagliabue, Herbert Dym and Jeffrey Pash, Washington, D.C., of counsel.
Pepin, Dayton, Herman, Graham & Getts, Charles J. Dayton, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiff-intervenor, Kelly Stouffer; Greer, Homer, Cope & Bonner, Bruce W. Greer and Laura Besvinick, Miami, Fla., of counsel.
Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel, William T. Egan and Richard J. Nygaard, Minneapolis, Minn., for defendant-intervenor - NFL Management Council, and all defendants; Richard N. Appel, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, Laurence J. Hoffman, Washington, D.C., of counsel.
MEMORANDUM AND OPINION DOTY, District Judge.
Plaintiffs bringing this motion are the National Football League Players Association ("NFLPA") and all veteran free agent[1] professional football players currently playing in the National Football League ("NFL"). Defendants own the teams which employ the players.
The instant action arises principally[2] out of a dispute between the parties over the rights of veteran free agents to play for the NFL clubs of their choosing.[3] For more than a decade, the movement of veteran free agents has been subject to the Right of First