A California federal jury ruled Friday that World Aquatics unlawfully boycotted the International Swimming League, cutting off the rival organization from critical access needed to compete, but awarded the league just one dollar in damages after an eight-day antitrust trial.
Jurors concluded that World Aquatics and one or more of its member federations agreed to refuse dealings with the ISL, violating federal antitrust law by denying the league access to a “supply, facility or market necessary to compete.” The jury also found the ISL suffered harm that antitrust laws are designed to prevent.
However, the panel stopped short of finding that the boycott existed solely to disadvantage the ISL or that the refusal to deal lacked any competitive justification. Those findings limited the damages award despite the liability ruling.
The ISL had sought more than 40 million dollars in damages, arguing World Aquatics barred swimmers and national federations from participating in non sanctioned events, crippling the league’s operations. World Aquatics countered that the claimed losses were speculative and tied to an estimated 59 million dollars in lost sponsorship value.
The verdict form did not explain how jurors arrived at the one dollar award. Ahead of trial, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled jurors could consider evidence suggesting the ISL’s own lawsuit and public messaging contributed to sponsor losses.
World Aquatics argued the league harmed itself by “stoking the flames by widely publicizing the fact of that conflict and the lawsuit to the media.”
The ISL filed the case in 2018 after World Aquatics issued rules restricting athlete participation in unsanctioned competitions. Judge Corley initially ruled for World Aquatics, but the Ninth Circuit revived the case in 2024, sending it back for trial.
A separate lawsuit brought by swimmers ended in a 4.63 million dollar settlement last year, compensating athletes for lost appearance fees and prize money from ISL events held in 2018 and 2019.
Neither side immediately responded to requests for comment following the verdict.
The case is International Swimming League Ltd. v. World Aquatics, No. 3:18-cv-07394, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
