Baseball’s Exemption from Antitrust Laws

In 1922, the sport of baseball hit a home run when the United States Supreme Court held that professional baseball isn’t subject to antitrust laws. Let’s look at how the baseball exemption was created and some of the cases that have challenged baseball’s special legal treatment.

I. Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs

In 1903, two professional baseball leagues, the National League and the American League, signed an agreement, known as the National...