Class action allegations of monopsony power

A team of CRA experts supported testifying expert Dr. Bob Topel in a lawsuit involving allegations of monopoly and monopsony power in the sports entertainment industry. Plaintiffs claimed that a promoter in the industry used its alleged market power to suppress the earnings of athletes. Dr. Topel wrote several reports and testified at a class certification hearing in rebutting Plaintiffs’ expert’s opinions and calculations. CRA assisted Dr. Topel in showing the flaws in Plaintiffs’ expert’s liability and damages analysis, and showing that the contractual agreements at issue in the case were pro-competitive. In addition, after correcting for mistakes in Plaintiffs’ expert’s analysis, CRA showed that earnings of the class members were actually higher during periods when the challenged actions were allegedly most prevalent. The case ultimately settled prior to trial.