Laumann v. NHL and Lerner v. MLB

Two classes of Plaintiffs challenged league rules that establish exclusive market territories for television broadcasting of live games. On behalf of the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball, Brattle Principal and Nobel Laureate Daniel McFadden provided testimony at a Daubert and class certification hearing concerning the structural econometric model proffered by the Plaintiffs’ expert to estimate damages arising from restraints imposed by the sports leagues on the broadcast rights to the league games. The Court granted the defense’s Daubert motion, in part, in a decision that frequently refers to the testimony of Professor McFadden.