Opinion ID: 486483
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficient Market Power

Text: 40 Finally, appellants argue that TOPCOL does not have sufficient economic power to force acceptance of the tie. Sellers in an illegal tying arrangement must possess some special ability to force a purchaser to do something that he would not do in a competitive market, which is usually called market power. Jefferson Parish, supra, 466 U.S. at 13-14, 104 S.Ct. at 1558-59. Economic or market power over the tying product can be sufficient even though the seller does not dominate the market or the seller only exercises the power with respect to some of the buyers in the market. Fortner I, supra, 394 U.S. at 503, 89 S.Ct. at 1258. Economic power may be inferred from the tying product's desirability to consumers or from uniqueness in its attributes. Id. at 505 & n. 2, 89 S.Ct. at 1259 & n. 2; United States v. Loew's, Inc., 371 U.S. 38, 45, 83 S.Ct. 97, 102, 9 L.Ed.2d 11 (1962); see also Jefferson Parish, supra, 466 U.S. at 17, 104 S.Ct. at 1560 (market power can exist where seller offers unique product competitors are unable to offer). In addition, market power requires a showing that would-be competitors in the tied market cannot themselves offer the tying product on competitive terms: that is, that the seller has some cost advantage over rivals in producing the tying product or that there are substantial entry barriers into the tying product market. Fortner I, supra, 394 U.S. at 505 n. 2, 89 S.Ct. at 1259 n. 2; Spartan Grain & Mill Co. v. Ayers, 735 F.2d 1284, 1288 (11th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1109, 105 S.Ct. 785, 83 L.Ed.2d 779 (1985); see also United States Steel Corp. v. Fortner Enterprises (Fortner II), 429 U.S. 610, 617, 97 S.Ct. 861, 866, 51 L.Ed.2d 80 (1977). 41 Appellants argue that there are many facilities in the Atlanta area which compete with the Omni, giving any unsatisfied promoter several alternative locations to stage a production and thereby limiting the Omni's ability to behave anti-competitively in the market. They support their argument by pointing to evidence showing that the Omni made some adjustments in its leasing arrangements to accommodate half-houses and lowered its rents in order to compete with another enclosed facility in the Atlanta area. 42 We reject this argument. The appellants ignore the district court's findings that the Omni is the only enclosed facility in Atlanta capable of seating more than 4,000 and that its size and configuration make it a unique facility with substantial economic advantages for the presentation of musical concerts where the attendance is expected to be between 4,000-16,000. The clear implication from these findings is that a promoter seeking to stage a popular music concert (the kind of event TXP sells tickets for) in the Atlanta area has no other real alternative to the Omni without sacrificing the type and size of performance he or she can stage. Furthermore, TXP and other would-be competitors cannot reasonably be expected to offer the tying product themselves: ACI and TOPCOL have the exclusive right to lease the Omni, and the costs of building an arena to compete with the Omni would be more than any single competitor could bear. There is no question that the appellants have the requisite market power. 43