Law Commons^™

Probing For Holes In The 100-Year-Old Baseball Exemption: A New Post-Alston Challenge, Sam C. Ehrlich

University of Cincinnati Law Review

As professional baseball’s unique exemption to antitrust law celebrates its one-hundredth year of existence, it faces a new attack in Nostalgia Partners v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, a claim by a group of minor league owners shut out of MLB’s recent restructuring of its minor league affiliate system. While the baseball exemption has weathered dozens of similar challenges over the past century, the Nostalgia Partners plaintiffs claim that circumstances on the Supreme Court have changed enough that the justices would be willing to overturn or narrow the exemption in their favor. This claim rests with the Court’s …

Sabermetrics And Patents?: Open Source, Property Protections, And Alice V. Cls Bank

Marquette Intellectual Property & Innovation Law Review

None

Law Library Blog (March 2021): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

A Tribute To Henry "Hank" Aaron

Marquette Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Commissioner Goes Too Far: The Best Interests Of Baseball Clause And The Astros' "High Tech" Sign-Stealing Scandal, Walter T. Champion

Marquette Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Antitrust Changeup: How A Single Antitrust Reform Could Be A Home Run For Minor League Baseball Players, Jeremy Ulm

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act to protect competition in the marketplace. Federal antitrust law has developed to prevent businesses from exerting unfair power on their employees and customers. Specifically, the Sherman Act prevents competitors from reaching unreasonable agreements amongst themselves and from monopolizing markets. However, not all industries have these protections.

Historically, federal antitrust law has not governed the “Business of Baseball.” The Supreme Court had the opportunity to apply antitrust law to baseball in Federal Baseball Club, Incorporated v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs; however, the Court held that the Business of Baseball was not …

Bottom Of The Ninth Circuit: Senne V. Kansas City Royals Baseball Corporation, Kevin Togami

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

Major League Baseball (“MLB”) is a multi-billion-dollar business. While MLB contracts can be worth well over $300 million, there are thousands of minor leaguers in the shadows of MLB making between $3000 to $7500 a year. These players survive in poor living conditions, receiving salaries far below federal minimum wage. They endure years of financial struggle for the marginally slim chance of playing in “The Show.”

In Senne v. Kansas City Royals Baseball Corporation, minor leaguers took a stand and voiced their frustration with this unfeasible lifestyle. They filed a class action lawsuit against MLB asserting claims under the Fair …

Measuring Baseball’S Heartbeat: The Hidden Harms Of Wearable Technology To Professional Ballplayers, John A. Balletta

Duke Law & Technology Review

No abstract provided.

Redeeming The Supreme Court: The Structure Behind The Baseball Trilogy And The Scope Of The Baseball Antitrust Exemption, Christian L. Neufeldt

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

This article conducts a systematic, methodological, and historical analysis of the baseball trilogy to elucidate its underlying structure. It adds to the existing scholarship by analyzing the later decisions in the context of their predecessors and exposing the interplay within the baseball trilogy. As a result, this article argues, against nearly universal opposition, that the Supreme Court issued well-considered opinions in each case and created a logical structure that underlies the entire trilogy. This article then scrutinizes the different approaches taken by the lower courts to delimitate the baseball antitrust exemption. It uses its structural findings on the baseball trilogy …

Is Baseball Shrouded In Collusion Once More? Assessing The Likelihood That The Current State Of The Free Agent Market Will Lead To Antitrust Liability For Major League Baseball's Owners, Connor Mulry

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Note examines how Major League Baseball’s (MLB) current free agent system is restraining trade despite the existence of the league’s non-statutory labor exemption from antitrust. The league’s players have seen their percentage share of earnings decrease even as league revenues have reached an all-time high. This reality is due to the players’ inability to “cash-in” when their market value hits its apex. Once these players enter the open market, their value has greatly deteriorated and consequently, they are unable to generate earnings commensurate with their value to the league.

This Note first explores the progression of MLB’s exemption from …

Inside Baseball: Justice Blackmun And The Summer Of '72, Savanna L. Nolan

Articles, Chapters and Online Publications

This article examines the historical context of Justice Blackmun's infamous opinion from Flood v. Kuhn, also known as the baseball case. Analysis includes discussion of recently re-discovered personal letters between Justices Powell and Blackmun.

Three Strikes And You're Outta Here! Minor League Baseball Cities' Potential To Bring Unfair And Deceptive Trade Practice Claim In The Face Of Mlb Contraction, Michael Viverito

Marquette Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

“I Do Not Feel I Am A Piece Of Property To Be Bought And Sold Irrespective Of My Wishes:” Athlete Activism And The Sociocultural Impact Of Curt Flood’S Lawsuit Against Major League Baseball, Luka Green

Pomona Senior Theses

In January 1970, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood filed a suit against MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, protesting the Reserve Clause in Major League Baseball that did not allow players the right to negotiate contract terms with any team but their current one. In doing so, he cemented his status as a divisive figure in baseball, the media, and with the general public. One of the primary reasons for such an extreme reaction was Flood’s rhetoric surrounding the case, as he repeatedly invoked slavery and other forms of peonage when describing the working conditions of professional baseball players. This sparked …

Judging And Baseball, Merritt E. Mcalister

UF Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Just Say No To The Cheap Double Play, Richard D. Friedman

Reviews

The Infield Fly Rule has drawn a considerable amount of attention from legal scholars for nearly half a century. Much of the writing, in keeping with the tone of the keynote work discussing the rule, the famous Aside by William Stevens published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 1975, has been whimsical and ironical. But the Aside was also a genuine piece of legal scholarship. And now, Howard Wasserman has written a book—an entire book!— on the rule, and done so without whimsy or irony.

Anatomy Of A Baseball Law Course, Robert M. Jarvis

Marquette Sports Law Review

None

Keeping The Infield Fly Rule In Effect, Howard M. Wasserman

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Just Say No To The Cheap Double Play, Richard D. Friedman

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Prehistory Of The Infield Fly Rule, Richard Hershberger

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Functionalism And The Infield Fly Rule, Mark A. Graber

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Teach The Controversy, Rob Neyer

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Enfield Fly Rule, Rob Nelson

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Puzzle Of The Infield Fly Rule, Spencer Weber Waller

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

De-Limiting Rules, Peter B. Oh

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Umpires, Judges, And The Aesthetics Of The Infield Fly, Chad M. Oldfather

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Another Side To The Infield Fly Rule, Andrew J. Guilford

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

De-Limiting Rules, Peter B. Oh

Articles

Baseball is a game governed by a delicate equilibrium of complex rules. But no rule incites more confusion or controversy than the Infield Fly. This is perhaps because the rule embodies a greater tension: between a constantly evolving game that is steeped in revered traditions, and a rule that has become part of popular lore but whose original impetus was premised on a notion of fair play that hails from a bygone era.

America's Past-Time And The Art Of Diplomacy, Alyson St. Pierre

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

As organizations and corporations construct an international reach, they become influential actors in foreign relations between sovereign countries. Particularly, while Major League Baseball continues to recruit players and build a large fan base across the globe, it increases its ability to facilitate civil relations between the United States and other nations. An exploration of how professional baseball provides a useful platform to improve diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba best exemplifies how the League can promote change. Although the United States and Cuba have had a rather tumultuous relationship in recent history, a coordinated effort to improve the …

In Memoriam: J. Gordon Hylton

Marquette Sports Law Review

None

Wrigley Field, The Trademark, Benjamin J. Welch

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

This paper is about the theory of applying the law of trade dress and all the protections that come with it to stadiums, specifically to Wrigley Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs. Trade dress is the version of trademark reserved for the packaging, design, or color of products. If the packaging, design, or color possesses the ability to identify the source or creator of the product, then it can create a possessory interest in the product’s creator for that style of packaging, design of the product, or color used. This possessory interest is used to protect the reputation …