No Monopoly in the Pool: Court Dismisses Enhanced Games’ Antitrust Lawsuit

Apr 17, 2026

By Huaduo Geng

On November 17, 2025, New York-based federal judge Jesse M. Furman dismissed antitrust claims brought by The Enhanced Games (TEG) for “failure to state a claim” (albeit with leave to amend).[7] TEG, on August 27, 2025, accused World Aquatics, USA Swimming, and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) of monopolizing international swimming competitions to discourage athletes from participating[8]. But as the Enhanced Games failed to refile the motion within the 30-day time limit, this $800 million antitrust lawsuit against sports governing bodies was ultimately dismissed.

In this 33-page order, the judge separately addressed TEG’s three claims. The first and second claim of TEG lawsuit was based on the promulgation of World Aquatics’ By-Law 10 on June 3, 2025, as well as the following statements from USA Swimming and WADA. More specifically, By-Law 10 stipulates that any person who endorses or otherwise affiliates with the Enhanced Games in any way is prohibited from participating in any World Aquatics event or competition in any capacity.”[9] after which USA Swimming and WADA respectively warning their members and affiliated personnel not to participate in TEG.

TEG alleged that By-Law 10, along with the public statements issued by the WADA and US swimming violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by “constituting a conspiracy that exclude Enhanced from competition in the markets for elite international swimming competitions and the services of elite international swimmers by depriving it of access to athletes and other professionals.”[10] With respect to WADA, Furman stated: “The public calls by WADA to other organizations to “come together” to condemn Enhanced are far more plausibly explained by WADA’s relative powerlessness and inability to take concrete action against athletes than evidence of its entry into a conspiracy with either or both of World Aquatics and USA Swimming.”[11] Secondly, the court reviewed the text of by-law 10 and concluded that the “language of By-Law 10 are fatal to” TEG’s allegations as by its terms, applied only to a “World Aquatics event or competition.”[12] What is more, Section 10.6 of the By-Law explicitly states that “Member Federations may choose to apply a similar policy for national competitions and events under their jurisdiction[13]. However, as TEG acknowledged, USA Swimming has not adopted such a policy to events and competitions in its own jurisdiction.

In the discussion of TEG’s claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, TEG accused World Aquatics that through exclusive authority, “engaged in monopolization and attempted monopolization”[14] However, the judge ruled that, as presented in By-Law 10, the charter only restricts relevant individuals from participating in events organized by World Aquatics itself and TEG failed to plead that World Aquatics has monopoly power in the markets. Since World Aquatics does not host 100% of the competition, the accusation made by TEG that World Aquatics is the “sole purchaser” and holds “100% market share” is “fatally undermined.”[15]

Lastly, TEG’s state-law claim for “tortious interference with prospective business relationships”[16] under New York law was also thrown out because TEG failed to refer to the specific third parties at issue and instead referred to them generically as “elite swimmers.”[17]

On May 21, 2025, tech entrepreneur Aron D’Souza founded The Enhanced Games (TEG) and announced that the inaugural competition would be held in Las Vegas from May 21 to 24, 2026. This event sparked widespread controversy as TEG permits athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and offers a $500,000 prize for each discipline to attract athletes from all over the world.[18]

Although this litigation has come to an end. However, as TEG in May 2026 approaches, this lawsuit may become a landmark case regarding legal issues related to the use of PEDs. As pointed in the order, “WADA itself has no enforcement mechanism and cannot take any action against individual athletes”[19]and the “formal adoption and enforcement of the World Anti-Doping Code is also delegated to individual sports federations.”[20] This was cited as a reason for dismissing TEG’s lawsuit, but it also meant that TEG did not violate any national or state-level regulations, so it is still able to move forward.

When athletes actually step onto the TEG stage, events that permit the use of PEDS may give rise to even more legal disputes. World Aquatics’ By-Law 10 is now being enacted. This means that any current athletes, coaches, or referees who participate in TEG and who hope to return to traditional competition in the future will face a lifetime ban from all events under the jurisdiction of World Aquatics. The international governing bodies of the other two sport disciplines included in TEG athletics and weightlifting are likely to follow suit. For athletes, coaches, doctors and sponsors, their choices might repeatedly “stain red” the “grey area” surrounding the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport.

Huaduo Geng is a doctoral student at Florida State University.

  1. United States District Court, Southern District of New York. (2025, November 17). Enhanced US LLC v. World Aquatics et al.: Opinion and order, No. 25-CV-7096 (JMF). p.1. ↑

  2. Enhanced. (2025, August 27). Enhanced Games files $800 million antitrust lawsuit against World Aquatics, the World Anti-Doping Agency and USA Swimming. Enhanced. https://www.enhanced.com/newsroom/enhanced-games-files-800-million-antitrust-lawsuit-against-world-aquatics-the-world-anti-doping-agency-and-usa-swimming ↑

  3. United States District Court, Southern District of New York. (2025, November 17). Enhanced US LLC v. World Aquatics et al.: Opinion and order, No. 25-CV-7096 (JMF). p.6. ↑

  4. Ibid, p.18. ↑

  5. Ibid, p20. ↑

  6. Ibid, p.22. ↑

  7. Ibid, p.22. ↑

  8. Ibid, p.25. ↑

  9. Ibid, p.29. ↑

  10. Ibid, p. 31. ↑

  11. Ibid, p. 32. ↑

  12. Goldschmidt, H. (2025, July 16). Sport on steroids: Walking the ethical and legal tightrope of The Enhanced Games. Sports Legal. https://www.sports.legal/2025/07/sport-on-steroids-walking-the-ethical-and-legal-tightrope-of-the-enhanced-games/ ↑

  13. United States District Court, Southern District of New York. (2025, November 17). Enhanced US LLC v. World Aquatics et al.: Opinion and order, No. 25-CV-7096 (JMF). p.4. ↑

  14. Ibid, p4. ↑

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