Legally, the problem is that it is not one company with legitimate outside competitors, it is 32 separate companies that work together to reduce outside competition. That is like if Walmart, Target, Kohls, Home Depot, Lowes, Dollar General, Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Dollar Tree, etc all got together and discussed the importance of none offering sick leave. They are supposed to compete, in theory, and in return for the degree to which they don't (like the salary cap) it is supposed to be negotiated with the players.

But alas, as a fan, guaranteed contracts are not my problem. The salary cap is my problem, because without it, the Super Bowl is LA vs NY most years, or other big markets, and we are the Drays or something.

It is a hybrid that isn't as clear cut as your example. Depending on the circumstance it can be 32 separate divisions of the same company. All teams fall under the NFL Corporate umbrella, so much so that the NFL decides how many teams there (limits competition), how much they are allowed to pay (salary cap), which cities get them, and who gets to own them. Not apples to apples with your comparison.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that the NFL and its teams must be treated as 32 independent businesses, particularly for antitrust and licensing purposes, according to multiple legal news sources. While the teams collaborate to operate the league (this collaboration is what is being called collusion), they are ultimately separate, profit-maximizing entities.

If they had a meeting to blanket raise ticket prices that is collusion as the public is getting screwed. Guaranteed contracts have nothing to do with the public, that is an internal union issue between the employers and the employees.

It is convoluted to say the least, almost as if at some point, congress had a hand in forming the NFL and granting cities and teams (which it did).