Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs

259 U.S. 200 (1922)

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Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs

United States Supreme Court
259 U.S. 200 (1922)

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Facts

The Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. (Baltimore) (plaintiff) was the sole surviving member of the Federal League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (federal league), which tried to compete with the two established major leagues—the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs and the American League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (collectively, major league baseball) (defendants). Baltimore sued major league baseball and others for violating federal antitrust law. The trial court ruled in Baltimore’s favor. Major league baseball appealed. The court of appeals reversed, reasoning that the business of major league baseball was to present baseball games to the public and that such games were purely intrastate matters (rather than interstate commerce) and thus not within the Sherman Act’s ambit. Baltimore appealed to the United States Supreme Court, arguing that major league baseball involved interstate commerce because its business was presenting games between teams from different cities and states, which required the clubs to engage in extensive travel organized, controlled, and paid for by the clubs.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Holmes, J.)

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