On this day, Supreme Court upholds baseball’s antitrust exemption

Posted by Constitution Daily

On this day, Supreme Court upholds baseball’s antitrust exemption

By Scott Bomboy

On November 9, 1953, the United States Supreme Court upheld a prior, controversial decision that allowed major league baseball to operate outside of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

The one-paragraph, per-curium opinion left in place a decision from 1922 from the Court that found that baseball, at its highest level, was an exhibition and not subject to the Constitution’s Commerce Clause.

Back in 2008, baseball fan and current Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito explained the unique circumstances in Federal Baseball Club v. National League, that unanimous decision from 1922 that has received some criticism over the years.

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