By Brent Kendall | The Wall Street Journal
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to throw a curve at the business of baseball, turning away a challenge to the sport’s longstanding exemption from antitrust laws.
The announcement was a victory for Major League Baseball, which has sought to avoid high-court scrutiny and preserve the exemption, which dates back nearly a century and is an anomaly in the law. No other professional sport enjoys a similar privilege.
Comment by Rose Law Group attorney Evan Bolick:
“An odd quirk of law granted Major League Baseball an exemption from antitrust law. The logic behind the decision granting this exemption has largely dissipated as MLB has grown from a small-time organization to a powerhouse international corporation. Nonetheless, Congress will likely be the only entity that can repeal this exemption, and they are less likely to do so for the Supreme Court (as repealing MLB’s exemption would likely require the repeal of similar exemptions for other pro-sports leagues).”
