{"id":1843,"date":"2017-11-12T17:14:41","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T22:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/?p=1843"},"modified":"2023-07-25T11:45:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T15:45:17","slug":"blocking-goodells-go-ahead-contract-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/jsel\/2017\/11\/blocking-goodells-go-ahead-contract-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"Blocking Goodell\u2019s Go-Ahead Contract Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Keith Allison, Jerry Jones 2015<\/a>, CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Sports Illustrated<\/a>, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has threatened to sue the National Football League (\u201cNFL\u201d) and other NFL franchise owners. Specifically, he has threatened to sue the owners of the Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers, all members of the NFL\u2019s compensation committee. Jones has made his lawsuit threat in light of the committee\u2019s decision on November 2nd<\/sup> to extend NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell\u2019s contract through to 2024<\/a>. Jones was a non-voting member of the committee, which has full control over Goodell\u2019s contract, and urged the committee members to reconsider Goodell\u2019s payment and the lack of participation by all thirty-two NFL team owners. When the committee, unconvinced by Jones\u2019 appeals, asserted it would continue with its plans to strike a deal with Goodell in the coming months, Jones hired<\/a> David Boies as an attorney. Jones has since asserted, through Boies, his plan to sue the owners and the league if Goodell\u2019s contract wasn\u2019t restructured such that the commissioner had more financial incentives to bolster the league\u2019s performance. Furthermore, Jones demanded that all NFL owners participate in the contract process. While it is yet unclear on what grounds Jones will sue, he may possibly contest the committee\u2019s authority by citing the NFL\u2019s contractual obligations to good faith and fair dealing with owners by not forbidding their participation in contract negotiations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jones is no stranger to voicing disagreement with the NFL and taking the league to court; he has previously sued the NFL for conspiring in an \u201cillegal cartel,\u201d for denying him a larger portion of the revenue earned from Cowboys\u2019 merchandise sales. In fact, Jones has been adamantly opposed to Goodell\u2019s policies in recent months, specifically concerning the suspension of Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot for the alleged assault of a former girlfriend, as well as Goodell\u2019s treatment of the ongoing protest by players who refuse to stand for the national anthem. However, Jones will face a difficult legal battle given he may have forfeited his standing in court; all thirty-two NFL owners voted to authorize the committee to negotiate the contract extension this past May<\/a>. Furthermore, the courts have generally deferred to the internal decisions and procedures of private associations. In any case, the league will continue with deal negotiations, ostensibly undaunted by any legal threats by Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jason Colin is a Sports Highlight Contributor for the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law and a current first year student at Harvard Law School (Class of 2020).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to Sports Illustrated, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has threatened to sue the National Football League (\u201cNFL\u201d) and other NFL franchise owners. Specifically, he has threatened to sue the owners of the Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Houston Texans, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers, all members of the 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