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A new lawsuit is challenging MLB’s antitrust exemption

Major League Baseball has been exempt from federal antitrust laws for over a century, when the Supreme Court concluded, in the 1920 case Federal Baseball Club vs. National League, that baseball was not “interstate commerce.”

On its face that conclusion was ridiculous 101 years ago and it’s ludicrous now, when the entity known as Major League Baseball has multiple tentacles that stretch across state lines. (Note, I am not a lawyer, but I’m guessing most lawyers would agree with my contention here.)

Many efforts have been made over the years since the Federal Baseball case (incidentally, our SB Nation Washington Nationals site takes its name from that case) to strike down this exemption — which exists for no other professional sport — but all have failed.