Patriots fans’ Deflategate lawsuit dismissed by U.S. judge

A lawsuit launched by a group of Patriots fans against the National Football League regarding the handling of the “Deflategate” investigation was dismissed by a federal judge. Calling the suit’s allegations of NFL racketeering “insubstantial,” the U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor also said that the fans lacked the authority to sue on behalf of the Patriots.

The suit was an attempt to make the league give the Patriots back the team’s first round draft pick, which was taken away as part of the Deflategate punishment. Legal experts, such as Sports Illustrated’s Michael McCann, deemed the case as having “almost no shot of succeeding” before the ruling from Judge Saylor was made.

As part of the dismissal, Judge Saylor also denied the group of Patriots fans a final possibility of amending the complaint, explaining that this would be “futile.”

Federal judge not impressed by #PatsFans racketeering allegations; calls them “insubstantial” & not impacting them: pic.twitter.com/kiWqgNtccP

— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) June 11, 2016

Tom Brady, the central figure in the NFL’s Deflategate investigation, is still embroiled in the ongoing legal battle. Having initially challenged the league’s ruling successfully, Brady is once again being forced into a legal fight following a reinstatement of his four-game suspension in April.