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I really don't see how the NFL can sell anyone on the idea that they are a single-entity when they have 32 different businesses with their own books and profits and the compete for players, personnel and money. It really seems to me the NFL is overplaying its hand here.
It's also hard to believe the Supreme Court will even touch the question the NFL wants answered. The court rarely if ever answers a question beyond what is asked in the substance of the lawsuit. The lower court ruling is that NFL Properties is a single entity, not the NFL. It seems very unlikely the court will go all the way and rule that the NFL is a single-entity, especially when it clearly is not.
To me the danger is that the court seems much more likely to reverse or limit the scope of Copperweld, the precedent used to support the lower court ruling.
And as noted above, the NFL getting what it wants would almost certainly invite a Congressional response and write into law restrictions and limits on the power of the NFL, BCS and other sports leagues. The sport leagues don't have a lot of fans in DC right now.
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