It feels as if the lawsuit filed by Urban Echo Energy against Bank of America could be the first step toward a broader effort to derail the sale of the Washington Commanders to Josh Harris. So will the company owned by former Duke and NBA player be filing more lawsuits?
“Not at this time,” lawyer Jeff Martin told A.J. Perez of FrontOfficeSports.com.
That implies that, at some point in the future, more litigation could commence.
It wouldn’t be a surprise. Friday’s lawsuit feels like a first step in an eventual effort to attack league rules that restrict the manner in which franchises can be sold and owned. The argument would be that limitations on the manner in which teams can be sold and owned violate antitrust laws.
The initial lawsuit seeks $500 billion in damages, a largely meaningless number aimed at creating publicity. That said, the pending suit contends that $5 billion was surrendered to Bank of America as part of the transaction, but not returned.
The next suit, if there is one, could target the league’s rules, after Bank of America says (as it possibly will) that the $7.1 billion offer wasn’t transmitted to Commanders owner Daniel Snyder because the structure didn’t comply with league rules.