The NFL scored a major victory over...

The NFL scored a major victory over its players’ union when a federal appeals court ruled that free-agency clauses in its 1982 labor agreement can’t be challenged as antitrust violations just because negotiations are at an impasse.

The 2-1 decision by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals left the league pushing for new negotiations. The union, meanwhile, said it would appeal or--in an extreme scenario--push for decertification that would leave the NFL without labor antitrust protection.