On July 29, 2022, the Legal Intelligencer published an article by Partner Carl Hittinger and Counsel Tyson Herrold titled “Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption Marks Its 100th Anniversary With a New Challenge.” It examines a case in the Southern District of New York, Nostalgic Partners v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, that claims capping the number of minor league affiliates at 120 constitutes a group boycott in violation of the Sherman Act. The authors write that the case, brought by excluded minor league teams that say the exemption should be overturned, has “reanimated the debate over the controversial, judicially ordained baseball antitrust exemption.” The Office of the Commissioner believes the exemption “applies broadly” to the “business of baseball.”
Read the article.