WASHINGTON — In taking a case involving the National Football League's exclusive licensing deal for sports merchandise, the Supreme Court could go beyond caps and give leagues more leeway in areas such as team relocation, legal scholars said Monday.

"A broad ruling in favor of the NFL could rewrite almost all of sports antitrust law," said Gabe Feldman, associate law professor and director of the Sports Law Program at Tulane University in New Orleans.

The court will hear an appeal from American Needle Inc., of Buffalo Grove, Ill., which filed an antitrust challenge to an agreement the NFL struck with Reebok International Ltd. American Needle had been one of many firms that manufactured NFL headwear until the league granted an exclusive contract to Reebok in 2001.

The NFL won the case in the federal appeals court in Chicago. But it also asked the Supreme Court to hear the case in a quest for a more sweeping decision that could put an end to what the league considers costly, frivolous antitrust lawsuits.

Tour de France riders face rigorous tests

PARIS — When the Tour de France starts Saturday, some cyclists may as well wear targets on their backs.

Pat McQuaid, the head of the International Cycling Union, says the race will be the most rigorously tested sports event in history. There will be about 520 doping tests, and several of the 180 riders are already in the cross-hairs even before the three-week showcase begins in Monaco.

Focusing on suspicious competitors is one of the major innovations at this year's Tour, which is hoping to repair its battered image. McQuaid says he's "neither an optimist or a pessimist" that this could be the year without scandals.

"There's always an idiot out there who will try something," he said by phone Monday.