Nathaniel Grow
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038198
- eISBN:
- 9780252095993
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038198.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
This book examines the history of the Federal Baseball litigation and explains how Major League Baseball first came to be exempt from antitrust law. In a unanimous ruling, penned by Justice Oliver ...
More
This book examines the history of the Federal Baseball litigation and explains how Major League Baseball first came to be exempt from antitrust law. In a unanimous ruling, penned by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., in the 1922 case of Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the United States Supreme Court held that the “business of base ball” was not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act because it did not constitute interstate commerce. The Court has affirmed Federal Baseball on two separate occasions, first in 1953 and then again in 1972, giving Major League Baseball antitrust immunity. This book examines how baseball came to enjoy its unique antitrust status, and more specifically why Justice Holmes concluded that the sport was not interstate commerce and thus not subject to federal antitrust law. It argues that the decision was consistent with the prevailing judicial precedents of the day and highlights several critical tactical mistakes committed by the Baltimore Federals's counsel throughout the litigation.Less
This book examines the history of the Federal Baseball litigation and explains how Major League Baseball first came to be exempt from antitrust law. In a unanimous ruling, penned by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., in the 1922 case of Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, the United States Supreme Court held that the “business of base ball” was not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act because it did not constitute interstate commerce. The Court has affirmed Federal Baseball on two separate occasions, first in 1953 and then again in 1972, giving Major League Baseball antitrust immunity. This book examines how baseball came to enjoy its unique antitrust status, and more specifically why Justice Holmes concluded that the sport was not interstate commerce and thus not subject to federal antitrust law. It argues that the decision was consistent with the prevailing judicial precedents of the day and highlights several critical tactical mistakes committed by the Baltimore Federals's counsel throughout the litigation.
Nathaniel Grow
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252038198
- eISBN:
- 9780252095993
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252038198.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sport and Leisure
The 1922 Federal Baseball Supreme Court ruling held that the “business of base ball” was not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act because it did not constitute interstate commerce. This book explains ...
More
The 1922 Federal Baseball Supreme Court ruling held that the “business of base ball” was not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act because it did not constitute interstate commerce. This book explains why the unanimous Supreme Court opinion authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, which gave rise to Major League Baseball's exemption from antitrust law, was correct given the circumstances of the time. Currently a billion-dollar enterprise, professional baseball teams crisscross the country while the games are broadcast via radio, television, and Internet coast to coast. The sheer scope of this activity would seem to embody the phrase “interstate commerce.” Yet baseball is the only professional sport—indeed the sole industry—in the United States that currently benefits from a judicially constructed antitrust immunity. Using recently released documents from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the book analyzes how the Supreme Court reached this seemingly peculiar result by tracing the Federal Baseball litigation from its roots in 1914 to its resolution in 1922, in the process uncovering significant new details about the proceedings. The book observes that while interstate commerce was measured at the time by the exchange of tangible goods, baseball teams in the 1910s merely provided live entertainment to their fans, while radio was a fledgling technology that had little impact on the sport. The book concludes that, despite the frequent criticism of the opinion, the Supreme Court's decision was consistent with the conditions and legal climate of the early twentieth century.Less
The 1922 Federal Baseball Supreme Court ruling held that the “business of base ball” was not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act because it did not constitute interstate commerce. This book explains why the unanimous Supreme Court opinion authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, which gave rise to Major League Baseball's exemption from antitrust law, was correct given the circumstances of the time. Currently a billion-dollar enterprise, professional baseball teams crisscross the country while the games are broadcast via radio, television, and Internet coast to coast. The sheer scope of this activity would seem to embody the phrase “interstate commerce.” Yet baseball is the only professional sport—indeed the sole industry—in the United States that currently benefits from a judicially constructed antitrust immunity. Using recently released documents from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the book analyzes how the Supreme Court reached this seemingly peculiar result by tracing the Federal Baseball litigation from its roots in 1914 to its resolution in 1922, in the process uncovering significant new details about the proceedings. The book observes that while interstate commerce was measured at the time by the exchange of tangible goods, baseball teams in the 1910s merely provided live entertainment to their fans, while radio was a fledgling technology that had little impact on the sport. The book concludes that, despite the frequent criticism of the opinion, the Supreme Court's decision was consistent with the conditions and legal climate of the early twentieth century.
