Hebert

Plaintiff, Bobby Hebert, appeals from judgment of dismissal entered following an order sustaining demurrer of defendants, Los Angeles Raiders, Ltd. (Raiders) and National Football League (NFL), to plaintiffs amended complaint without leave to amend.

Facts

The amended complaint alleged: Defendant NFL is an unincorporated association comprised of 28 professional football teams, each of which is a separate entity that operates a professional football franchise for profit in various cities across the United States. Defendant Raiders operates one of these franchises in Los Angeles under the team name Los Angeles Raiders. Plaintiff, a resident of California, has been a professional football player in the NFL since 1985, playing under contract to the New Orleans Saints (Saints), another NFL team. The NFL member teams constitute the only market in the United States for the services of major league professional football players. Instead of engaging in free competition for players’ services the NFL, the Raiders and other NFL member teams have combined and conspired to eliminate such competition among themselves through various agreements, including “Plan B” (hereinafter…