American soccer’s legal leader faces a test in resolving antitrust cases

J. Carlos Kuri, announced this month as the new chief legal officer of the U.S. Soccer Federation, faces an early test as the league seeks to resolve two long-running antitrust cases.

In one of the disputes scheduled to be heard in September, the now-defunct North American Soccer League claims it suffered from an overly close relationship between US Soccer and Major League Soccer.

In a second lawsuit, soccer promoter Relevant Sports LLC accused US Soccer of harming its business by bringing elite foreign soccer teams to U.S. shores for official matches. US Soccer is the sole defendant in the case after Relevant, owned by billionaire Stephen Ross, reached a settlement last month with FIFA, the sport’s world governing body.

Antitrust cases cause concern for legal executives because of the potential for triple damages and the possibility for the winner to recover often significant attorneys’ fees and other costs. While Latham & Watkins, US Soccer’s outside legal counsel, will take on most of the responsibilities, Kuri faces decisions including: resolving a dispute or changing legal representation.

It is unlikely that Kuri will see a quick resolution. “Antitrust laws are generally one of the most difficult areas of law for judges to understand,” said Christopher Deubert, senior counsel at Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete and former general counsel of MLS club DC United. “You have complex economic analysis by experts and a mix of economics and law.”

Latham, which has long been associated with the U.S. Soccer team, is facing Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn, a sports lawyer and member of the antitrust investigation, in both cases.

Kuri did not respond to a request for comment. USA Soccer declined to comment.

Kuri’s Challenge

In her new position at US Soccer, Kuri replaces Karen Leetzow, who left the nonprofit organization late last year to become president of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Chicago Red Stars. Her federal tax return shows she earned more than $528,000 in total compensation from U.S. Soccer for the 2022-2023 tax year.

Kuri was most recently the legal director of the South by Southwest festival before taking a job with US Soccer. He previously served as chief U.S. lawyer for beverage giants Red Bull and Heineken, both sponsors of the soccer industry.

Previously, Kuri was general counsel for New York Red Bull, a Major League Soccer franchise. He began his career as an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and O’Melveny & Myers.

Kuri’s challenge is to support U.S. Soccer in its mission to promote soccer in a crowded U.S. sports market without tipping the scale too much in favor of Major League Soccer, the dominant U.S. professional soccer league — home to Lionel Messi of Inter Miami CF — at the expense of potential national competitors.

“US Soccer and MLS have a good relationship and help each other, which is important for the sport,” said Michael Winograd, Brown Rudnick’s partner, a former youth soccer player and coach who was once a US Soccer presidential candidate. “But it’s also a precarious situation.”