PA, NJ among states urging Supreme Court to hear MLB antitrust exemption challenge
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Eighteen attorneys general, including those from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, have signed a brief urging the United States Supreme Court to hear a challenge of Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption.
Led by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, the group of 18 bipartisan AGs submitted an amicus brief in support of former minor league baseball team Tri-City ValleyCats and Oneonta Athletic Corporation -- which owns the Norwich Sea Unicorns.
The two teams once had MLB team affiliations. However, in 2020, MLB teams agreed to cut affiliated minor league teams from 160 to 120 -- with the ValleyCats and the Sea Unicorns among the 40 teams across 23 states that were trimmed.
"Baseball is big business. There's no rational reason why baseball -- above any other sport, or any other business -- should be insulated from federal and state antitrust enforcement," Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said. "The Norwich Sea Unicorns deserve the same, fair shot at recruiting talent and Major League support as any other team. It's time to reconsider and overturn the antiquated and unfair baseball antitrust exemption."
Major League Baseball has held an antitrust exemption since 1922 after the US Supreme Court ruled that baseball fell outside the scope of antitrust laws.
Along with Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the following AGs signed the brief: Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
The brief filed by the AGs comes days after Senators Mike Lee (Utah) and Marco Rubio (Florida) along with Representatives Paul Tonko (New York) and Joe Courtney (Connecticut) filed their own amicus brief to overturn the antitrust exemption.
