Adjusting the Stream? Analyzing Major League Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption after American Needle

Abstract:     
While Major League Baseball was not a party to the American Needle suit, the Supreme Court can draw lessons from its decision in that case in determining whether to abolish what remains of professional baseball’s long-standing antitrust exemption. This article begins with a short history of how baseball’s antitrust exemption developed and how courts have interpreted it in the nearly ninety years since it was first set down by the Court. This article then analyzes the current reach of the antitrust exemption. This article concludes with a discussion of the antitrust exemption after American Needle and how that case should influence the Court’s reasoning in future cases regarding baseball’s exemption, as well as a discussion about the effects of removing the exemption.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 32

Keywords: American Needle, Antitrust Exemption, MLB Exemption, Baseball Exemption, Sports Law, Franchise Relocation

Accepted Paper Series