Keywords
Sherman Act, Antitrust Law, Baseball's Antitrust Exemption, Professional Sports Law, Federal Baseball, Sports Law
Abstract
For over one-hundred years, professional baseball has enjoyed an antitrust exemption unique among American major sports leagues, stemming from Supreme Court decisions in Federal Baseball and its progeny. This exemption has significantly influenced the evolution and structure of Major League Baseball (MLB). Despite extensive criticism and challenges for judicial and legislative reform, the exemption persists today.
However, new efforts have emerged to comprehensively disrupt this framework. In 2023, Nostalgic Partners was brought and structured to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Plaintiffs anticipated they would lose at the lower court levels and garnered widespread support for the Court to grant a writ of certiorari and hear the case. Nonetheless, their effort fell one step short after MLB induced settlement at the last moment.
Now, Cangrejeros follows in its footsteps by building on several procedural arguments raised in Nostalgic Partners and levying similar group boycott claims. Further, Cangrejeros projects as an improved avenue to revisit arguments for and against the exemption because it is better positioned than prior cases to reach the Supreme Court. That said, this Note makes two arguments. First, upon expected appeal from the First Circuit, the Supreme Court should hear Cangrejeros because it challenges procedural issues critical to the exemption’s status, is flexible in scope to feasibly address such issues in whole or in part, and is less likely to settle given MLB’s absence as a named party. Second, upon grant of certiorari, the Supreme Court should eliminate the exemption based on the substantive strength of Plaintiffs’ group boycott claims as pled.
Recommended Citation
30 Fordham J. Corp. & Fin. L. 107 (2025).
Included in
Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons, Common Law Commons, Constitutional Law Commons, Contracts Commons, Courts Commons, Legal Remedies Commons, Other Law Commons, Sports Management Commons
