Congressional Responses to Selected Work
Stoppages in Professional Sports
L. Elaine Halchin, Coordinator
Specialist in American National Government
Justin Murray
Information Research Specialist
Jon O. Shimabukuro
Legislative Attorney
Kathleen Ann Ruane
Legislative Attorney
March 24, 2011
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41060
CRS Report for Congress
P
repared for Members and Committees of Congress
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Summary
The National Football League’s (NFL) collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was set to expire
in 2012. In May 2008, the owners voted unanimously to terminate the agreement early (i.e.,
2011), an option that was available to either party to the CBA. Following their own efforts to
negotiate a new CBA, the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) participated in
mediation provided by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FCMS). Mediation was
unsuccessful, the union dissolved itself, and the NFL imposed a lockout on players.
Given the status of labor-management relations in professional football, a number of questions
have been raised. Of particular interest to some observers is how Congress responded in the past
to work stoppages in professional sports. In attempting to address this particular question, this
report examines congressional responses to the two most recent work stoppages in the NFL,
which occurred in 1982 and 1987. This report also examines the 1994 Major League Baseball
strike, which also is useful considering the extent of congressional activity surrounding this
strike.
Compared to the 1994 baseball strike, the 1982 and 1987 football strikes did not garner much
attention from Congress in terms of legislative measures and hearings. Three legislative measures
were introduced in response to the 1982 strike; one was introduced in response to the 1987 strike.
Members introduced or offered 22 legislative measures and held five hearings that were related to
the baseball strike. With one exception (S.Res. 294, 100th Congress), none of these measures was
approved by either house.
Members who introduced, or otherwise supported, legislative measures offered reasons for
promoting congressional intervention. Their arguments touched on, for example, the economic
impact of work stoppages, the role of baseball’s antitrust exemption in establishing a climate
conducive to players’ strikes, previous congressional involvement in professional sports, and a
responsibility to ensure the continuity of football (or baseball).
Disagreeing that congressional intervention was warranted, other Members offered several
reasons why Congress ought not to intervene. For example, one Member suggested that repealing
baseball’s antitrust exemption would alter the balance of power in professional baseball. Other
Members believed that more pressing matters deserved Congress’s attention. At least one
Member suggested that a particular bill, if enacted, would have the effect of favoring the players
over the owners.
A summary of NFL labor-management history may be found in Appendix A. Appendix B
provides an overview of key aspects of labor-management relations and sports, and Appendix C
includes a discussion of antitrust exemptions applicable to professional sports.
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
National Football League—Status of Labor-Management Relations ...................................... 1
Work Stoppages in Selected Professional Sports Leagues ...................................................... 2
1982 National Football League Strike ......................................................................................... 4
Congressional Response........................................................................................................ 5
H.Res. 597 and H.Res. 598 (97th Congress) ..................................................................... 5
S. 3003, Organized Professional Team Sports Labor Dispute Resolution Act of
1982 (97th Congress) .................................................................................................... 6
1987 National Football League Strike ......................................................................................... 6
Congressional Response........................................................................................................ 6
1994 Major League Baseball Strike............................................................................................. 9
Congressional Response........................................................................................................ 9
S. 2380, H.R. 4965, and S.Amdt. 2601 to H.R. 4649, Baseball Fans Protection
Act of 1994 (103rd Congress) ..................................................................................... 13
S. 2401, National Commission on Major League Baseball Act of 1994 (103rd
Congress)................................................................................................................... 14
H.R. 4994, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1994 (103rd
Congress)................................................................................................................... 15
H.R. 5095, Major League Play Ball Act (103rd Congress) .............................................. 16
Hearing on Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption and the Strike (103rd Congress) ................... 19
H.R. 45, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1995 (104th Congress) ........ 21
H.R. 105, H.R. 106, H.R. 365, and H.R. 1612 (104th Congress) ..................................... 21
H.R. 120, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1995 (104th
Congress)................................................................................................................... 21
H.R. 386, Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995 (104th Congress) ............ 21
H.R. 397, Major League Play Ball Act (104th Congress) ................................................ 21
H.R. 735, National Commission on Professional Baseball Act of 1995 (104th
Congress)................................................................................................................... 22
H.R. 749 (104th Congress) ............................................................................................. 22
H.R. 870 and S. 376, Major League Baseball Restoration Act (104th Congress) ............. 23
S. 15, National Pastime Preservation Act of 1995 (104th Congress) ................................ 23
S. 415, Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995, and S. 416, Major
League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995 (104th Congress)................................. 24
S. 627, Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995 (104th Congress).............. 27
White House Efforts to Aid in Resolving the Strike ............................................................. 28
Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 29
Tables
Table 1. MLB Work Stoppages....................................................................................................2
Table 2. NBA Work Stoppages ....................................................................................................3
Table 3. NFL Work Stoppages ..................................................................................................... 3
Table 4. NHL Work Stoppages ....................................................................................................3
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Table 5. 97th Congress: Legislative Measures Related to the 1982 NFL Strike.............................. 5
Table 6. 100th Congress: Legislative Measure Related to the 1987 NFL Strike ............................. 7
Table 7. 103rd and 104th Congresses: Legislative Measures and Hearing Related to the
1994 MLB Strike ..................................................................................................................... 9
Table 8. Congressional Activity During Strikes.......................................................................... 29
Table 9. Methods Proposed for Resolving the Strikes ................................................................ 30
Table 10. Disposition of Legislative Measures........................................................................... 31
Appendixes
Appendix A. Summary of NFL Labor History ........................................................................... 32
Appendix B. Sports and Labor-Management Relations.............................................................. 33
Appendix C. Antitrust Exemptions Applicable to Professional Sports ........................................ 35
Contacts
Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 39
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Introduction
Recent developments in professional football’s labor-management relations—specifically, the
National Football League (NFL) owners’ decision to opt out of the current collective bargaining
agreement (CBA)—have prompted questions regarding how, when, and in what manner a new
CBA might be drafted. Interest in this matter includes, on the part of some observers, questions
about how Congress responded to previous work stoppages in professional sports. In an effort to
address this particular question, this report examines congressional activity related to the two
most recent NFL strikes, which occurred in 1982 and 1987, and the 1994 Major League Baseball
(MLB) strike. Although the latter strike involved another professional sports league, it is
potentially instructive given the extent of congressional activity surrounding the 1994 strike.
National Football League—Status of Labor-Management Relations
The National Football League’s collective bargaining agreement took effect on March 8, 2006,
and was to expire on the “last day of the 2012 League Year.”1 As described in the following
excerpt from the CBA, however, either party to the agreement could opt to terminate it prior to
the established expiration date:
Section 3. Termination Prior to Expiration Date:
(a) Either the NFLPA [NFL Players Association] or the Management Council may terminate
both of the final two Capped Years (2010 and 2011) by giving written notice to the other on
or before November 8, 2008. In that event, the 2010 League Year would be the Final League
Year, and the Agreement would continue in full force and effect until the last day of that
League Year, except for the provisions related to the Draft, which would expire as prescribed
in Article XVI, Section 1 [of the CBA].2
In May 2008, NFL team owners voted unanimously to opt out of the CBA and negotiate a new
agreement for the 2011 season and subsequent seasons.3 Following unsuccessful efforts by the
1 National Football League, NFL Management Council and NFL Players Association, NFL Collective Bargaining
Agreement 2006-2012, March 8, 2006, p. 240. A “league year” is “the period from March 1 of one year through and
including the last day of February of the following year, or such other one year period to which the NFL and the
NFLPA may agree.” (Ibid., p. 4.)
2 Ibid., p. 240. (Boldface and italics in original.) “‘Capped Year’ means any League Year for which a Salary Cap is in
effect.” (Ibid., p. 6.) “‘Salary Cap’ means the absolute maximum amount of Salary that each Club may pay or be
obligated to pay or provide to players or Player Affiliates, or may pay or be obligated to pay to third parties at the
request of and for the benefit of Players or Player Affiliates, at any time during a particular League Year, in accordance
with the Rules set forth in Article XXIV (Guaranteed League-wide Salary, Salary Cap & Minimum Team Salary) [of
the CBA], if applicable.” (Ibid., p. 7.)
3 National Football League, “NFL Owners Opt Out of CBA,” news release, at http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=
09000d5d80868b78&template=without-video&confirm=true. In announcing that the owners voted to opt out of the
current CBA, the NFL stated that “[t]he current labor agreement does not adequately recognize the costs of generating
the revenues of which the players receive the largest share; nor does the agreement recognize that those costs have
increased substantially—and at an ever increasing rate—in recent years during a difficult economic climate in our
country. As a result, under the terms of the current agreement, the clubs’ incentive to invest in the game is threatened.
There are substantial other elements of the deal that simply are not working. For example, as interpreted by the courts,
the current CBA effectively prohibits the clubs from recouping bonuses paid to players who subsequently breach their
player contracts or refuse to perform.... Our objective is to fix these problems in a new CBA.” (Ibid.) As reported by
the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DeMaurice Smith, the head of the NFLPA, said that “‘[t]he players of the National
(continued...)
Congressional Research Service
1
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
league and the union to negotiate a new agreement, both parties accepted, in February 2011, an
invitation from the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to
mediate their dispute. Seventeen days of mediation took place, between February 17 and March
11, under the auspices of the FMCS. On March 11, the FMCS issued a press release stating that
the agency’s Director and Deputy Director had determined that “no useful purpose would be
served by requesting the parties to continue the mediation process at this time.”4 On March 11,
the NFLPA notified the NFL that it had “decertified,” and the following day the NFL announced
that it was imposing a lockout.5
Work Stoppages in Selected Professional Sports Leagues
Work stoppages involving professional sports, whether caused by the players going on strike or
the owners imposing a lockout, are by their very nature contentious and not always resolved
quickly or easily. Through early 2010, the four major professional sports leagues in the United
States—Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National
Football League, and National Hockey League (NHL)—had experienced a total of 18 work
stoppages. Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4 list the work stoppages for each sport.
Table 1. MLB Work Stoppages
Year(s)
Type of Work Stoppage
Duration
1972 Strike 13
days
1973 Lockout 17
days
1976 Lockout 17
days
1980 Strike 8
days
1981 Strike 50
days
1985 Strike 2
days
1990 Lockout 32
days
1994-1995 Strike 232
days
(...continued)
Football League are still in the dark about why this deal [collective bargaining agreement] isn’t good enough.... And the
easiest way to demonstrate any problem with the deal is the way any business in American demonstrates it: They turn
over what the profit or loss numbers are. And if there’s a problem with the model, we’ll fix it.” (Scott Brown and Carl
Prine, “Union Chief: NFL Headed for Lockout,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 19, 2009, at
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_638933.html.)
4 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, “Statement by FMCS Director George H. Cohen on NFL-NFLPA
Talks,” news release, March 11, 2011, at http://www.fmcs.gov/assets/files/Public%20Affairs/2011%20Documents/
Statement_on_NFL-NFLPA_Talks_3-11-2011.pdf.
5 National Football League, “NFL Statement on ‘Decertification’-Litigation-Lockout,” press release, March 12, 2011,
at http://www.nflmedia.com/wps/myportal/!ut/p/c1/hY5NC4JAGIR_0juutm5HK3aNLXVJS73IImKCHx0i6N-
ndM5mjg8PM1TS3NG-utY-u2m0PeVU8koz13AZMggBCbZVkT4d9oDnzrzgFY-
FOl8lZp74YE6m1S6VTGTOH_u27K37C8ePBFj1Y49TFE5DQwWVfqU9_v2h0ouDY2DURobGhQIVfdPa-
k2PIUeX3M0HPIfc0g!!/dl2/d1/L0lJSklna21BL0lKakFBTXlBQkVSQ0pBISEvWUZOQTFOSTUwLTVGd0EhIS83X
0s0NlE2RkgyMEdUUzEwSUFRRzVGSFEzMEcwL3JfQUcxODY3NDAwMzc!/?PC_7_K46Q6FH20GTS10IAQG5F
HQ30G0_WCM_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/myconnect/NFLMedia/nfl+media+site/news/nfl+statement+on+decertificatio
n-litigation-lockout.
Congressional Research Service
2
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Sources: Major League Baseball, “Collective Bargaining, Labor Timeline,” at http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/news/labor/
y2006/index.jsp?content=timeline; Associated Press, “Labor Relations; Fehr: Atmosphere Not As ‘Poisoned’” As
in 1994,” CNNSI.com, February 25, 2001, at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/news/2001/02/25/
fehr_labor_ap/; “Labor Matters: Unions,” The Business of Sports, ed. Scott R. Rosner and Kenneth L. Shropshire
(Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2004), p. 200.
Notes: The Major League Basebal Players Association (MLBPA) became a labor union in 1966. (Major League
Basebal Players Association, “MLBPA Info: Frequently Asked Questions,” at http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/info/
faq.jsp#created.) The current CBA expires on December 11, 2011. (Major League Basebal Players Association,
“MLBPA Info: Basic Agreement,” at http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/info/cba.jsp.)
Table 2. NBA Work Stoppages
Year(s)
Type of Work Stoppage
Duration
1995 Lockout 77
days
1998-1999 Lockout 191
days
Source: “Labor Matters: Unions,” The Business of Sports, ed. Scott R. Rosner and Kenneth L. Shropshire (Boston:
Jones and Bartlett2004), p. 200.
Notes: The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) was established in 1954. (National Basketball
Players’ Association, “NBPA History,” at http://www.nbpa.com/history.php.) The current CBA “runs through the
2010-11 season.” (David Aldridge, “Several Issues Will Come to Head During the NBA Labor Talks,” August 4,
2009, at http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/david_aldridge/08/04/aldridge.labor/index.html.)
Table 3. NFL Work Stoppages
Year(s)
Type of Work Stoppage
Duration
1968
Lockout fol owed by a strike
10 days
1970
Lockout fol owed by a strike
20 days
1974 Strike 42
days
1982 Strike 57
days
1987 Strike 24
days
2011 Lockout In
progress
Sources: Paul D. Staudohar, Playing for Dol ars: Labor Relations and the Sports Business, 3rd ed. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 1996), pp. 71-72; Associated Press, “N.F.L. Players Back on Jobs,” New York Times, October
20,1987, at https://w3.nexis.com, p. B8; William C. Rhoden, “Jets Roar Past Patriots as Season Comes to a
Pause,” New York Times, September 22, 1987, at https://w3.nexis.com, p. A29; NFL Players Association, “History,
The 1970’s – AFL and NFL Players Associations Merge,” at http://www.nflplayers.com/user/template.aspx?fmid=
182&lmid=239&pid=1036&type=c; NFL Players Association, “History, The 1960’s – ALF/NFL Competition,” at
http://www.nflplayers.com/user/template.aspx?fmid=182&lmid=239&pid=1033&type=c; “Labor Matters: Unions,”
The Business of Sports, ed. Scott R. Rosner and Kenneth L. Shropshire (Boston: Jones and Bartlett2004), p. 200.
Notes: The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) was established in 1956. (NFL Players Association, “History, The
Beginning – 1956,” at http://nflplayers.com/user/template.aspx?fmid=182&lmid=239&pid=1915&type=c.)
However, it was not until 1970 that the AFL Players Association and the NFL Players Association merged,
retaining the name of the latter and becoming a recognized union. (NFL Players Association, “History, The
1970’s – AFL and NFL Players Associations Merge,” at http://nflplayers.com/user/template.aspx?fmid=182&lmid=
239&pid=1036&type=c.)
Table 4. NHL Work Stoppages
Year(s)
Type of Work Stoppage
Duration
1992 Strike 10
days
Congressional Research Service
3
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Year(s)
Type of Work Stoppage
Duration
1994-1995 Lockout 103
days
2004-2005 Lockout 302
days
Sources: Paul D. Staudohar, Playing for Dol ars: Labor Relations and the Sports Business, 3rd ed. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press, 1996), p. 151; Associated Press, “NHL Lockout Chronology,” February 16, 2005, at
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1993004; Joe LaPointe, “Play Hockey! Settlement Ends 10-Day
Strike,” New York Times, April 11, 1992, at http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/11/sports/hockey-play-hockey-
settlement-ends-10-day-strike.html?scp=46&sq=Bob+Goodenow&st=nyt; Associated Press, “NHL Lockout
Chronology,” USAToday.com, July 13, 2005, at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2005-07-13-lockout-
chronology_x.htm; “Labor Matters: Unions,” The Business of Sports, ed. Scott R. Rosner and Kenneth L.
Shropshire (Boston: Jones and Bartlett2004), p. 200.
Notes: The National Hockey League Players’ Association was established in 1967. (National Hockey League
Players’ Association, “What Is the NHLPA?” at http://www.nhlpa.com/AboutTheNHLPA/WhatIs.asp.) The
current CBA expires in 2011. (National Hockey League, “NHL Players Association Will Not Reopen CBA,”
January 23, 2009, at http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=405957.)
Major League Baseball has experienced the greatest number of work stoppages (eight), followed
by the NFL (five), NHL (three), and NBA (two). While both NBA work stoppages were lockouts,
the other three leagues have experienced a combination of strikes and lockouts. Major League
Baseball has had five strikes and three lockouts, and the NHL one strike and two lockouts. The
NFL is somewhat unusual in that two of its five work stoppages began as lockouts and concluded
as strikes (1968 and 1970). The average length of work stoppages for each league is as follows:
MLB, 46 days (excluding the 232-day strike, the average is 20 days); NBA, 134 days; NFL, 31
days; and NHL, 138 days (excluding the 10-day strike, the average is 203 days).6 The medians for
the four leagues are as follows: MLB, 17 days; NBA, 134 days; NFL, 24 days; and NHL, 103
days.
In the following three sections, this report describes congressional responses to the 1982 and
1987 NFL strikes and the 1994 MLB strike, respectively. The latter section also includes a
discussion of the Clinton Administration’s attempts to facilitate the resolution of the baseball
strike. A summary of the circumstances of each strike is followed by a table that identifies
relevant legislative measures, and an overview of Members’ comments and report language
regarding the strike, which were drawn from congressional hearings and reports, and remarks
made on the House or Senate floor. This information shows the extent of actual, or intended,
congressional involvement and how some Members viewed congressional involvement in the
strike. A summary of NFL labor-management history may be found in Appendix A. Appendix B
provides an overview of key aspects of labor-management relations and sports, and Appendix C
includes a discussion of antitrust exemptions applicable to professional sports.
1982 National Football League Strike
On September 20, 1982, NFL players voted to strike after negotiations for a new collective
bargaining agreement broke down. The previous CBA had expired on July 15, 1982. Initially, the
NFL Players Association (NFLPA) sought 55% of the owners’ gross revenues. The NFL rejected
the players association’s demands and offered to share $1.6 billion with the NFLPA over five
years. The dispute was resolved when the players association accepted the owners’ offer to share
6 Averages were rounded.
Congressional Research Service
4
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
$1.28 billion over five years and to provide $60 million to the union to compensate players for
salaries not paid during the strike. The season resumed on November 21, 1982. On December 5,
1982, the players association and the owners signed a new five-year CBA. After the strike was
resolved, the season resumed with a seven-game regular season schedule and an expanded playoff
bracket, which culminated in Super Bowl XVI on January 30, 1983. 7
Congressional Response
Table 5 shows the legislative measures that were introduced in response to the strike.
Table 5. 97th Congress: Legislative Measures Related to the 1982 NFL Strike
Hearing Held
Legislative
or Written
Measure
Report
Number of
(Congress)
Brief Summary
Published?
Cosponsors
Final Major Action
H.Res. 597
Support a prompt
No
0
House Committee on Education
(97th)
settlement of the NFL
and Labor referred the bill to the
strike.
Subcommittee on Labor-
Management Relations.
H.Res. 598
Support a prompt
No
14
House Committee on Education
(97th)
settlement of the NFL
and Labor referred the bill to the
strike.
Subcommittee on Labor-
Management Relations.
S. 3003
Establish a final offer
No
0
Senate Committee on Labor and
(97th)
arbitration procedure
Human Resources referred the bill
for labor disputes
to the Subcommittee on Labor
involving professional
and requested comment from the
baseball, basketball,
Department of Labor and the
football, and hockey.a
Office of Management and Budget.
Source: Legislative Information System, at http://www.congress.gov.
Note:
a. This bill also would have required the parties to the current NFL strike “to resume activities” and
authorized the President to direct them to submit final offers in accordance with Sec. 2 of S. 3003 within
five days of the date of enactment.
H.Res. 597 and H.Res. 5988 (97th Congress)
Either resolution, if passed, would have urged the parties to take steps to promptly settle the strike
and resume the season.
7 The 1982 strike was the first regular-season strike in the then 63-year history of the National Football League. Two
previous “pre-season actions” occurred in 1970 and 1974 but did not extend beyond the start of the regular season.
8 According to the Legislative Information System, neither resolution had a short title.
Congressional Research Service
5
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
S. 3003, Organized Professional Team Sports Labor Dispute Resolution Act of
1982 (97th Congress)
Although no hearings were held, the bill’s sponsor, Senator Ted Stevens, offered a rationale for
congressional involvement when he introduced S. 3003. Noting that “Congress has clearly
established a history of promoting the public interest in professional sports,” he then mentioned
several instances when legislation involving professional sports was enacted:9
For example, in 1973, we adopted legislation calling for the telecasting of sold-out home
games of professional sports teams. We also enacted legislation encouraging the stability of
professional sports leagues by confirming, in 1961, the right of professional sport leagues to
jointly sell their television rights to the national networks. In 1966, we authorized the
consolidation of the American Football League and the National Football League so that
football franchises could continue to operate on a stable basis in their resident communities.
Thus we have long recognized the public interest in encouraging professional sports, and
have affirmatively acted to encourage the financial stability of the leagues.10
Senator Stevens also noted the adverse economic consequences of the football strike, mentioning
that the “strike produced major economic disruptions and losses in all of the communities which
host NFL teams.”11
1987 National Football League Strike
The 1982 CBA expired on August 31, 1987, and shortly thereafter negotiations broke down
between the NFLPA and the NFL over the issue of free agency and other matters. The union
voted to strike on September 22, 1987. The owners cancelled the games scheduled for September
26 and September 27, 1987, while announcing their intention to resume the season on October 4,
1987, with replacement players. NFL players who did not share the union’s concerns regarding
free agency, or who needed the money, played alongside the replacement players.12
The striking players voted to return to work on October 15, 1987, even though there was no CBA.
Team owners, however, banned players who had not agreed to return to work by the owner-
imposed deadline of October 14, 1987, from participating in that week’s scheduled games. Thus,
striking players who did not return to their teams until after the NFLPA vote lost an additional
week of pay. Replacement players were released as the regular players returned to their jobs. The
1987-1988 season concluded on January 31, 1988, when the Super Bowl was held at Jack
Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
Congressional Response
Table 6 shows the legislative measure that was introduced in response to the strike.
9 Sen. Ted Stevens, “Professional Football Strike,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 128, part 17
(October 1, 1982), p. 26731.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid., p. 26730.
12 NFL Players Association, “A Strike vs. A Lockout,” March 16, 2008, at http://nflplayers.com/user/content.aspx?
fmid=178&lmid=443&pid=412&type=n&weigh=443,0,412,n.
Congressional Research Service
6
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Table 6. 100th Congress: Legislative Measure Related to the 1987 NFL Strike
Legislative
Hearing Held or
Measure
Written Report
Number of
(Congress) Brief
Summary Published?
Cosponsors
Final Major Action
S.Res. 294 (100th)
Support a prompt
No
2
Agreed to by voice
settlement of the
vote.
NFL strike.
Source: Legislative Information System, at http://www.congress.gov.
S.Res. 294, which was agreed to without amendment by a voice vote, called on both parties—the
players association and the NFL Management Council—to resume negotiations.13
Although S.Res. 291 (100th Congress), which addressed the telecasting practices of the NFL, was
not a response to the NFL players’ strike, the subject was broached during a hearing on the
resolution.14 Following his introduction of Pete Rozelle, then-commissioner of the NFL, the
subcommittee’s chairman initiated the following exchange with Rozelle regarding the ongoing
strike:
Senator METZENBAUM. Mr. Rozelle, as I indicated to you before the hearing, I think for
us to have you before this hearing and not inquire of you as to why you as the Commissioner
have not been heard from in connection with some effort to settle the strike between the
players and the NFL, would be surprising to the many people in this country that are asking
that question. I wonder if you would be good enough to tell us why you as the Commissioner
have not seen fit to move in and at least attempt to mediate the issue.
Mr. ROZELLE. I have had meetings with the President of the Players’ Association, Gene
Upshaw, and phone conversations. I have attempted to stay close to the situation, of course,
on the owners’ Management Council side. There has been a very, very strong disagreement
on several issues that have inhibited the negotiating process. I am pleased now that I think
that perhaps certain pressures are involved on both sides, and I understand they are going to
be meeting promptly to get back into negotiating. I think it is unfortunate they could not have
accomplished more back in May, June and July, but it was all the thrust at once when the
season came on us.
Senate METZENBAUM. Well, I might say I think that all of us are pleased to know that
management and players are going back to the negotiating table. I never heard of a strike that
was settled without direct negotiations, oftentimes through some mediator—whether it is
13 Sen. Robert Dole, “Senate Resolution (S.Res. 294)—Calling for An End to the 10-Day-Old Pro Football Strike,”
remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 133, part 19 (October 1, 1987), p. 26146. According to the
Legislative Information System, this resolution did not have a short title.
14 Sen. Arlen Specter’s rationale for S.Res. 291 was as follows: “In 1961, at the request of the NFL, Congress enacted
the Sports Broadcasting Act (15 U.S.C. §§1291-95), which granted antitrust immunity to the NFL’s pooling of
revenues from sponsored television broadcasts. This permitted the NFL to enter into a series of leaguewide network
television contracts.... At no time since the original grant of limited immunity 26 years ago, however, has the
Department of Justice reviewed the NFL’s telecasting practices to determine whether they are in compliance with the
law. Since the law’s enactment, there have been dramatic changes in the nature of telecommunications and in the
NFL’s telecasting practices.... Mr. President, I long have been concerned about the possibility that the NFL might
remove a portion of its televised games from free broadcast television, available to the public at no charge, and offer
them instead only to fans who can afford to pay—whether for cable service or on a ‘pay-per-view’ basis.” (Sen. Arlen
Specter, “Report on National Football League Telecasting,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, vol. 133,
part 18 (September 29, 1987), p. 25637.)
Congressional Research Service
7
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
from the U.S. Mediation and Conciliation Service or someone else.... The American people
have a strong interest in this issue. They do not have an ownership right, but they feel they
have some type of right in professional football. And I think the sooner the matter gets
resolved and the parties themselves meet together and resolve it, I think the happier the
American people will be. I think it will be one less issue to be on the top of the news in the
nightly news every night. 15
In an exchange that occurred later in the hearing, Senator Arlen Specter similarly encouraged the
NFL commissioner to assist in settling the strike. The relevant excerpt is as follows:
Senator SPECTER. Okay. I would like to disagree with Senator Hatch, even though he is
gone, on one small point. That is about the adequacy of the substitute games on this past
Sunday. I would join my colleague, Senator Metzenbaum, Commissioner Rozelle, in urging
you to do everything you could personally to lend your good offices to settle the strike. You
have been a very powerful force in the National Football League for many, many years. I
believe you became Commissioner in the 1950s.
Mr. ROZELLE. 1960, Senator.
Senator SPECTER. 1960. Okay. But you have been the Commissioner for 27 years, one of
the toughest jobs around, pulled together the National Football League in an era of
extraordinary growth and extraordinary complexity, and you have appeared before this
Judiciary Committee on many occasions in my short tenure in the United States Senate. I
think you have always done a very able job, and I think you have done a very able job here
this morning. I would very much like to see your talents used this afternoon to settle the
football strike.
Mr. ROZELLE. I would love to, believe me. It is so terribly frustrating, Senator.
Mr. MODELL. I would like to add a thought in that regard. Yes, I echo your sentiments on
what he has done for 26, 27 years. But if the players were to accept him as a neutral
Commissioner, which he really is, this strike never would have gotten off the ground. They
view him as an owners’ appointee, and that gives us great difficulty.16
Senator SPECTER. Well, the strike has gotten off the ground, but I think it is a little different
ball game today than it was a week ago. We have had a week of substitute players. I think the
American public is totally dissatisfied with that. There have been incidents around the league
which are not a credit for anybody. And I think it is time it came to a close. If there is one
man who could probably do it better than anyone else, if anybody could do it, it is
Commissioner Rozelle. So we are going to let you go early, Commissioner.17
15 U.S. Congress, Senate Judiciary, Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights, Antitrust Implications of the Recent
NFL Television Contract, hearing on S.Res. 291, 100th Cong., 1st sess., October 6, 1987, S.Hrg. 100-919 (Washington:
GPO, 1988), p. 11. (Capitalization in original.)
16 Arthur B. Modell was the president of the Cleveland Browns. He accompanied Mr. Rozelle.
17 U.S. Congress, Senate Judiciary, Antitrust, Monopolies and Business Rights, Antitrust Implications of the Recent
NFL Television Contract, p. 36. (Capitalization in original.)
Congressional Research Service
8
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
1994 Major League Baseball Strike
Unable to reach an agreement with the owners on a new CBA in summer 1994, major league
players voted, on August 12, 1994, to strike. Approximately one month later, on September 14,
1994, Major League Baseball cancelled the remainder of the season. The decisions to strike and
to cancel the season followed several months of negotiations over a number of issues, including
baseball’s revenue sharing plan. Beginning in fall 1994, the Clinton Administration attempted to
facilitate negotiations between the parties.18 The work stoppage ended in early 1995 following
then-U.S. District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s issuance of an injunction that had been
“requested by the National Labor Relations Board ordering baseball owners to restore bidding on
free agents, a resumption and salary arbitration and the anti-collusion rules which were a part” of
the CBA that had expired the previous year.19 Shortly after Judge Sotomayor issued the
injunction, which occurred on March 31, 1995, major league baseball owners “accepted the
players’ offer to return to work.”20 Although the commencement of the 1995 season was delayed,
beginning on April 26 instead of April 3, which was the original opening day, the season was
played without interruption and the postseason concluded with the World Series.21
Congressional Response
Table 7 shows the legislative measures that were introduced in response to the strike.
Table 7. 103rd and 104th Congresses: Legislative Measures and Hearing Related to the
1994 MLB Strike
Legislative
Measure or
Hearing Held or
Hearing
Written Report
Number of
(Congress) Brief
Summary Published?
Cosponsors
Final Major Action
S. 2380
Apply antitrust laws
No
3
Placed on the Senate
(103rd)a
to a term or
Legislative Calendar
condition unilaterally
under General
imposed by any party
Orders.
to the MLB CBA.
S.Amdt. 2601 to
Apply antitrust laws
No 1
Withdrawn
in
the
H.R. 4649
to a term or
Senate.
(103rd)
condition unilaterally
imposed by any party
to the MLB CBA.
18 See “White House Efforts to Aid in Resolving the Strike” for additional information.
19 Ted Keith, “Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor Well Known in Sports,” SI.com, May 26, 2009, at
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/05/26/sotomayor/index.html.
20 Murray Chass, “Baseball Owners Quit Fight; Opening Day Is Set for April 26,” New York Times, April 3, 1995, at
http://www.lexis.com.
21 Ibid.
Congressional Research Service
9
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Legislative
Measure or
Hearing Held or
Hearing
Written Report
Number of
(Congress) Brief
Summary Published?
Cosponsors
Final Major Action
H.R. 4965
Apply antitrust laws
No 0
House
Committee
(103rd)a
to a term or
on the Judiciary
condition unilaterally
referred the bill to
imposed by any party
the Subcommittee
to the MLB CBA.
on Economic and
Commercial Law.
S. 2401
Establish a National
No 0
Referred
to
the
(103rd)
Commission on
Senate Committee
Major League
on Commerce.
Basebal to oversee
and regulate MLB,
including the conduct
of binding arbitration
in the event of a
labor impasse.
H.R. 4994
Apply antitrust laws
Yes
6
Placed on the Union
(103rd)
to term(s) or
Calendar.
condition(s)
unilaterally imposed
by any party to the
MLB CBA.
H.R. 5095
Effective February 1,
Yes 0
House
Committee
(103rd)
1995, establish an
on Education and
arbitration board to
Labor requested
conduct binding
executive comment
arbitration for MLB
from Labor.b
owners and players.
House Committee
Major League
Yes
Not applicable
Hearing published in
on the Judiciary,
Baseball’s antitrust
1994.
Subcommittee on
exemption and its
Economic and
relationship to the
Commercial Law
ongoing strike.
(103rd)
H.R. 45
Apply antitrust laws
No 0
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to a term or
House Committee
condition unilaterally
on the Judiciary.
imposed by any party
to the MLB CBA.
H.R. 105
Exclude professional
No 0
Referred
to
the
(104th)
basebal from the
House Committee
antitrust exemption
on the Judiciary.
applicable to certain
television contracts.
H.R. 106
Apply antitrust laws
No 7
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to professional
House Committee
basebal teams and
on the Judiciary.
leagues.
Congressional Research Service
10
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Legislative
Measure or
Hearing Held or
Hearing
Written Report
Number of
(Congress) Brief
Summary Published?
Cosponsors
Final Major Action
H.R. 120
Apply antitrust laws
No 9
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to term(s) or
House Committee
condition(s)
on the Judiciary.
unilaterally imposed
by any party to the
MLB CBA.
H.R. 365
Apply antitrust laws
No 0
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to term(s) or
House Committee
condition(s)
on the Judiciary.
unilaterally imposed
by any party to the
MLB CBA.
H.R. 386
Apply antitrust laws
No 3
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to professional
House Committee
baseball.
on the Judiciary.
H.R. 397
Effective February 1,
No 0
House
Committee
(104th)
1995, establish an
on Economic and
arbitration board to
Educational
conduct binding
Opportunities
arbitration for MLB
referred the bill to
owners and players.
the Subcommittee
on Employer-
Employee Relations.
H.R. 735
Establish a National
No 0
Referred
to
the
(104th)
Commission on
House Committee
Professional Basebal
on the Judiciary.
to oversee and
Referred by the
investigate major
House Committee
league and minor
on Commerce to the
league baseball,
Subcommittee on
including the conduct
Commerce, Trade,
of binding arbitration
and Hazardous
in the event of a
Materials. Referred
labor impasse
by the House
between MLB and
Committee on
players.
Economic and
Educational
Opportunities to the
Subcommittee on
Employer-Employee
Relations.
H.R. 749
Apply antitrust laws
No 0
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to professional
House Committee
basebal teams and
on the Judiciary.
leagues.
Congressional Research Service
11
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Legislative
Measure or
Hearing Held or
Hearing
Written Report
Number of
(Congress) Brief
Summary Published?
Cosponsors
Final Major Action
H.R. 870
Establish a National
No 6
House
Committee
(104th)c
Basebal Dispute
on Economic and
Resolution Panel,
Educational
which shall resolve
Opportunities
the current labor
referred the bill to
dispute by setting
the Subcommittee
forth a binding
on Employer-
agreement.
Employee Relations.
H.R. 1612
Apply antitrust laws
No 6
Referred
to
the
(104th)
to professional
House Committee
baseball.
on the Judiciary.
S. 15
Except as provided in
No 2
Referred
to
the
(104th)
P.L. 87-331 (Sports
Senate Committee
Broadcasting Act of
on the Judiciary.
1961), apply antitrust
laws to professional
baseball.
S. 376
Establish a National
No
1
Placed on Senate
(104th)c
Basebal Dispute
Legislative Calendar
Resolution Panel,
under General
which shall resolve
Orders.
the current labor
dispute by setting
forth a binding
agreement.
S. 415
Apply antitrust laws
Yesd
4
Hearing held by the
(104th)
to professional
Senate Committee
baseball’s labor
on the Judiciary,
relations.
Subcommittee on
Antitrust and
Business.
S. 416
Apply antitrust laws
Yes d
1
Hearing held by the
(104th)
to professional major
Senate Committee
league baseball.
on the Judiciary,
Subcommittee on
Antitrust and
Business.
S. 627
Apply antitrust laws
Yes
4
Placed on Senate
(104th)
to professional major
Legislative Calendar
league baseball.
under General
Orders.
Source: Legislative Information System, at http://www.congress.gov.
Notes:
a. S. 2380 and H.R. 4965 were companion bills.
b. This appears to be a reference to the Department of Labor.
c. H.R. 870 and S. 376 were companion bills.
d. One hearing was held for S. 415 and S. 416.
Congressional Research Service
12
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
S. 2380, H.R. 4965, and S.Amdt. 2601 to H.R. 4649, Baseball Fans Protection Act
of 1994 (103rd Congress)
Senator Howard Metzenbaum introduced S. 2380 and offered S.Amdt. 2601. H.R. 4649 was a
companion bill to S. 2380.
Senator Metzenbaum believed that “revoking the owners’ antitrust immunity is the best long-term
solution to the mess the players and the owners have made of major league baseball,” but he
decided to offer instead what he characterized as a “compromise bill.”22 He went on to explain his
reasoning as follows:
It [S. 2380] does not eliminate the players right to strike, or the owners right to lock them
out. Instead, the bill allows the antitrust laws to be invoked if the owners impose a salary cap
or any other terms and conditions on the players. This should take away the owners’
incentive to play hard ball and impose unilateral conditions. It should also relieve players’
fear that they need to strike in order to prevent a salary cap from being shoved down their
throats when the season ends. Once the owners and players resolve their differences and sign
a new agreement, the bill expires....23
Right now, the big league players cannot use the antitrust laws. If they could, the owners
would have to deal with them fairly or face the consequences in a court of law. In other
words, what this bill does is give the players another tool they can use to avoid striking, or to
22 Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, “The Baseball Fans Protection Act of 1994,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional
Record, daily edition, August 11, 1994, p. S11342. Although S. 500 (103rd Congress), which was introduced in March
1993 and would have eliminated baseball’s antitrust exemption, was not related to the baseball strike, it is mentioned
here. Sen. Metzenbaum, upon introducing S. 500, related his perspective, as follows, regarding the exemption and labor
relations: “8. How does the exemption affect relations with the players? Up until the mid-1970s, baseball needed the
exemption in order to preserve the validity of the reserve clause. The reserve clause bound a player to the team which
first signed him for the duration of his baseball career. In essence, the reserve clause was an agreement among the
owners not to compete in the market for player services. Generally, such agreements would not pass muster under the
antitrust laws. While a portion of major league players (those with more than 6 years experience) can become free
agents, the bulk of big leaguers still have no opportunity to offer their services in a free market. Because these
restrictions on the mobility of major leaguers are now included in the current collective bargaining agreement with the
players, they would not be subject to challenge under the antitrust laws. However, the current labor agreement expires
at the end of this year. If the owners and the players fail to reach an agreement, the owners could unilaterally impose
restrictions on player mobility that would limit the competition for player services and thus probably run afoul of the
antitrust laws. However, because of the exemption, the baseball players—unlike the football or basketball players—
would have no ability to challenge the restrictions under the antitrust laws. Their only recourse against unreasonable
restrictions on player mobility would be a strike. Thus, the antitrust exemption makes labor negotiations between the
owners and the players more confrontational than they might be otherwise. That helps to explain why there has been a
work stoppage (either a lockout or a strike) in baseball during every labor negotiation in the last five years.... Removing
the exemption … should foster more stable labor relations. As noted above, the antitrust exemption exacerbates the
tendency of the owners and players to be confrontational in labor negotiations. A work stoppage is more likely in
baseball than in the other sports because the players have no opportunity to bring an antitrust challenge against the
restrictions on their mobility imposed by the owners. The owners have no reason to fear an antitrust suit, so their
incentive to compromise is diminished; meanwhile, a strike is the players only option if the owners seek to
unreasonably limit competition for player services.” (Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, “Professional Baseball Antitrust
Reform Act of 1993,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, daily edition, March 4, 1993, p. S2419.) Two
additional bills introduced early in the 103rd Congress, H.R. 108 and H.R. 1549, also sought to apply antitrust laws to
major league baseball and remove baseball from the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 (15 U.S.C. §§1291-1294),
respectively. Since both bills were introduced several months before the commencement of the strike, and the bills’
sponsors did not make statements about their measures, it is not known whether the status of labor negotiations were
part of the rationale for either bill.
23 Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, “The Baseball Fans Protection Act of 1994,” p. S11342.
Congressional Research Service
13
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
bring a strike to a quick end. The last seven times the baseball players and owners have met
at the bargaining table there has been a work stoppage: A strike or lockout. This has not
happened in other professional sports because those players could use the antitrust laws to
settle labor disputes.... If the antitrust laws applied to baseball, the owners could not force the
players to accept unreasonable terms and conditions if their labor negotiations hit impasse.
The players could challenge the owners unreasonable demands by launching an antitrust suit
instead of shutting down the season.24
Senator Orrin Hatch, who co-sponsored S. 2380, encouraged both sides to resolve their
differences, and, unlike Senator Metzenbaum, did not support the blanket repeal of major league
baseball’s antitrust immunity.25 Couching the barriers to resolution as the result of a “legal
anomaly,” Senator Hatch offered the following explanation of his position:
On the one hand, professional baseball enjoys a unique and longstanding immunity from the
antitrust laws. I have opposed repeal of this immunity, and I continue to do so. On the other
hand, the owners retain the right under our current labor laws to impose unilaterally new
terms and conditions of employment once an impasse in the bargaining has been reached. I
am concerned that the unique combination of these two legal roles, which occurs in no other
industry, has the effect of inviting delay and of discouraging prompt resolution of the
pending labor dispute. The Baseball Fans Protection Act that Senator Metzenbaum and I are
introducing would correct this legal anomaly.26
The sponsor of H.R. 4965, Representative Major R. Owens, did not provide any remarks when he
introduced his bill.
S. 2401, National Commission on Major League Baseball Act of 1994 (103rd
Congress)
Introduced by Senator Dennis DeConcini, S. 2401, if enacted, would have established a
commission on professional baseball. Major League Baseball did not have a commissioner at the
time of the strike, and Senator DeConcini envisioned the panel serving as an “impartial
commissioner” that would “give the fans a much needed voice in the debate.”27 Among the many
responsibilities he set forth for the proposed commission, he noted that “[m]ost importantly ... is
the Commission’s power to conduct binding arbitration of a labor impasse. Given that we are
currently in the eighth work stoppage in the past 22 seasons, it is unfortunate, but obvious, that
baseball can not put its own house in order.”28 Continuing with the theme that intervention was
necessary to resolve the dispute, Senator DeConcini, in the following excerpt, also defended
government involving itself in the matter:
Many people might wonder why, or if, Government should involve itself in this matter. But
the Government is already involved and has, in effect, created a baseball monopoly.... This
exemption allows baseball to operate as one large entity which operates free of the threat of
24 Ibid.
25 Sen. Orrin Hatch, “The Baseball Fans Protection Act of 1994,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, daily
edition, August 11, 1994, p. S11343.
26 Ibid.
27 Sen. Dennis DeConcini, “National Commission on Major League Baseball Act of 1994,” remarks in the Senate,
Congressional Record, daily edition, August 17, 1994, p. S11994.
28 Ibid.
Congressional Research Service
14
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
competition, despite the fact that competition is the hallmark of American free enterprise. In
other instances where we create a monopoly, such as utilities, no one questions the
Government’s authority to regulate the industry. In essence we grant the monopoly, but we
do so with the understanding that this rare exception has conditions, one of which is the
Government’s right to regulate.29
While Senator DeConcini acknowledged that some thought Congress ought to repeal baseball’s
antitrust exemption, he “[thought] the larger issue [was] ... whether or not the game [could] ...
police itself—I have not seen much recently to suggest that it can.”30
H.R. 4994, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1994 (103rd
Congress)
Upon introducing H.R. 4994, Representative Mike Synar noted that it was “designed to spur the
now stagnant negotiations between the players and owners of major league baseball. This bill is
specifically designed to allow the players to get back to the field while all parties to the strike
have their rights and bargaining positions protected through the application of the antitrust laws....
[G]iving the players antitrust remedies will preserve their bargaining [position] during the
upcoming negotiations without having to resort to a strike.”31
The committee report that accompanied the bill set forth the same reasoning, as shown by the
following excerpt from the report:
H.R. 4994 would subject Major League Baseball owners and players to the Nation’s antitrust
laws in the event one of those parties unilaterally imposes an anticompetitive term or
condition on the other. While the case for a far broader repeal of the antitrust exemption is
compelling, at this late juncture in the 103d Congress, the Committee opted to respond
legislatively to the most urgent competitive problem facing Major League Baseball[:] its
failure to be subject to the same antitrust rules as the other sports in the event of a breakdown
of the collective bargaining process and the unilateral imposition of terms by one of the
parties. As such, the legislation was specifically drafted so that it would not implicate issues
relating to other activities, such as the operation of the minor leagues or franchise
relocation.32
The Committee’s formal action of partially repealing the nonstatutory antitrust exemption
which Congress never initiated or endorsed but by which it has been saddled for over 70
years is really the first step in ending a legal fiction about the game created and perpetuated
by the Supreme Court, as perhaps one of its greatest indulgences. That indulgence, fueled
first by sentimentality and then by risk-aversion, has now vested such complete power over
the sport by its financial owners as to enable them to end the game at will.33
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Rep. Mike Synar, “Introduction of the Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act—Hon. Mike Synar,”
extension of remarks, Congressional Record, daily edition, August 18, 1994, p. E1764.
32 U.S. Congress, House Committee on the Judiciary, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1994, report
to accompany H.R. 4994, 103rd Cong., 2nd sess., November 29, 1994, H.Rept. 103-871 (Washington: GPO, 1994), p.
34.
33 Ibid., p. 2.
Congressional Research Service
15
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
The Committee now acts to end the illusion which has spawned very real economic
consequences. It does so by partially repealing the nonstatutory exemption created by the
1922 decision in Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional
Baseball Clubs. In so doing, the Committee responds to the current phase of a recurring
crisis in baseball in a very limited, yet crucial, way: by subjecting the traditional parties to
Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement the players union and owners to
the Nation’s antitrust laws in the event one party unilaterally imposes an anticompetitive
term or condition of employment on the other.34
Other members of the Judiciary Committee disagreed, objecting to, among other things,
congressional involvement in the matter. They wrote:
We continue to be concerned about both the propriety and timing of this legislation and
oppose its enactment. Simply put, Congress should not intervene in an ongoing collective
bargaining dispute unless a national security interest is involved. Clearly, as important as
baseball is to our national psyche, a baseball strike is not a national security matter. The
decision to legislatively move ahead on this matter at this point is also highly questionable. It
would make more sense for Congress to revisit the basic issue of baseball’s antitrust
exemption next year, when the emotion and acrimony surrounding the current strike
hopefully will have subsided.35
The dissenting members of the committee also tackled the claim that the antitrust exemption
served as a barrier to resolving the ongoing dispute between baseball players and owners. They
noted that the other three professional sports leagues (basketball, football, and hockey) did not
have the same antitrust exemption that baseball has, yet “all three … have seen considerable labor
strife, not dissimilar to that which we are witnessing with respect to baseball. It would appear that
labor strife in professional sports has more to do with economics, than it has to do with the
applicability of the federal antitrust laws.”36
H.R. 5095, Major League Play Ball Act (103rd Congress)
A September 1994 hearing on H.R. 5095 offers some insight into how several members of the
House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations
viewed the role of Congress in the strike. The following passages show that the chairman of the
subcommittee, Representative Pat Williams, acknowledged, and concurred with, the committee’s
longstanding opposition to binding arbitration, but then explained why he chose to support
congressional intervention in this instance:
I want to tell our witnesses that you are appearing before a committee which has historically
opposed binding arbitration. The Labor Committee is the committee that believes that
collective bargaining works in America and should be allowed to continue unhampered by
Federal intervention. That is my own belief, but this is baseball. However, for this committee
to be encouraging binding arbitration is historic and virtually unprecedented.37
34 Ibid., pp. 2-3.
35 Ibid., p. 41.
36 Ibid., p. 44.
37 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations, The
Impact on Collective Bargaining of the Antitrust Exemption, H.R. 5095, Major League Play Ball Act of 1995, 103rd
Cong., 2nd sess., September 29, 1994, Serial No. 103-108 (Washington: GPO, 1995), p. 1.
Congressional Research Service
16
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Representative Williams’s comments at the hearing echoed the statement he made upon
introducing the bill. An excerpt of the statement is as follows:
This bill addresses the inability of the owners and players to collectively bargain effectively
given the antitrust exemption for baseball.... Collective bargaining in this country works very
well. Government should intervene in that process only at times of crises, and then only
when it is clear that continued voluntary negotiations will not succeed.38 My legislation is
introduced in that spirit.39
Several other subcommittee members followed suit in supporting the use of binding arbitration to
settle the strike. Similar to the chairman’s approach, each of these other subcommittee members
implied or suggested that collective bargaining is preferable, but that binding arbitration, or
congressional intervention, is acceptable when parties are unable to reach an agreement.
Excerpts from Representative Donald M. Payne’s, Representative Matthew G. Martinez’s, and
Representative Eliot L. Engel’s statements, respectively, are as follows:
I support the Chairman’s initiative because I believe that collective bargaining is a positive
tool in this country. The government should step in the picture when it is evident that
continued voluntary negotiations are futile. If this bill [H.R. 5095] can alleviate some of the
problems that resulted from the baseball strike this summer, then this legislation has my full
support.40 [Payne]
Binding arbitration, I think, is one way to settle these things when there are disputes like that,
and while I am a strong labor supporter, I have never really felt that even with labor that
there are times when a third party shouldn’t step in and see things in a reasonable, objective
way when the negotiating parties can’t.41 [Martinez]
I urge the parties to resolve their differences so that congressional intervention is not
necessary, but I assure you that we will get involved in order to protect the interests of fans,
local business owners, and, as they say, the best interests of baseball.42 [Engel]
Another subcommittee member who supported this bill, Representative Major R. Owens,
believed that the preferable, long-term solution was to repeal baseball’s antitrust exemption. In
the following excerpt, he provides his reasoning:
While I fully support this bill, of course, it only provides a temporary solution to a long-term
problem. The Congress really must take stronger action. Baseball’s antitrust exemption has
38 As demonstrated by the following statement, the subcommittee chairman believed that the parties to the dispute were
not able to resolve the dispute themselves: “We have this strike that has more attention than steel strikes, rail strikes,
coal strikes, and you are not sitting at the table and talking. It is extraordinarily unusual in American collective
bargaining history. Folks just want to get you back to the table. If binding arbitration doesn’t do it, okay, if breaking the
antitrust thing doesn’t do it, okay, you just want to be told to go back, okay, go back. Now. But you know what, that
ain’t going to get it, not with you guys, it ain’t going to get it. You are too far apart. You can’t come together.”38 (Ibid.,
p. 113.)
39 Rep. Pat Williams, “Play Baseball in 1995,” extension of remarks, Congressional Record, daily edition, September
23, 1994, p. E1927.
40 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations, The
Impact on Collective Bargaining of the Antitrust Exemption, pp. 9-10.
41 Ibid., p. 5.
42 Ibid., p. 8.
Congressional Research Service
17
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
provided the owners with a monopoly through which players have been denied the rights
enjoyed by employees in every other industry. Continuing Congress’ past inaction on this
issue would be tragic.... Since Justice Blackmun rendered that court’s opinion [in 1922],
baseball’s antitrust exemption has paved the way for seven work stoppages to occur, and
presented with a chance to act, Congress has balked each time. The season may be over, but
the opportunity for Congress to act is not. I urge all Members, of course, to fully support this
effort by Congressman Williams, but I think we should go further and I urge all Members of
Congress to support the efforts going forward in the Judiciary Committee to finally cure this
problem once and for all by taking away the antitrust exemption from baseball.43
Taking a different tack, other subcommittee members suggested that the baseball strike did not
warrant congressional involvement, and that it should be resolved through collective bargaining.
Excerpts from the statements of Representatives Peter Hoekstra, Steve Gunderson, and Harris W.
Fawell, respectively, are as follows:
I would encourage Congress at this point in time to stay out of this situation. I would
encourage the witnesses to go back to the bargaining table to solve their problems. If we are
going to get involved, we should wait until after this strike is solved, and we should not do
anything in a short period of time. We have much more pressing problems to deal with.44
[Hoekstra]
As a Republican and a State legislator, I joined with the labor movement in Wisconsin to
support binding arbitration, mandatory binding arbitration to eliminate the possibility of a
work stoppage among the public schoolteachers in our State. I believe there was clearly a
national interest or at least a State interest that required us to do that, and in that context we
then had to look at an alternative to resolving the labor disputes. My question, very frankly,
is to what degree and how do we determine whether there is a similar national interest with
America’s pastime, and if so, then what ought to be the conditions for an alternative
remedy?.... As I indicated earlier, I am not one who is philosophically opposed to the concept
of binding public arbitration when there is an overriding public interest. My question to the
players or to your representative is, because you seem to be the supporters of this legislation,
what is the overriding public interest which would compel the United States Congress to
order final and binding arbitration in this situation?45 [Gunderson]
I generally agree with the Chairman in not believing that we should mandate settlements. I
think that probably as rough as this may be, it should be allowed to play out, and who knows
what the next chapter of baseball may be. ”46 “I speak as somebody who has played ball all
my life, I love the game, it is fascinating, but I don’t believe in the final analysis it is an
economic tragedy in this Nation.... I basically take the view that we ought not to break into
this collective bargaining process as long as it is there. Antitrust laws are not involved
anyway.... The strike has got to be settled, I believe, by the players, by the owners getting
together and recognizing that each has some trust and some basis to their stands.47 [Fawell]
At least two of the subcommittee members who supported the imposition of binding arbitration
raised yet another issue: the possible financial impact of the strike on stadium or team employees.
Representative Martinez stated that the work stoppage was “an economic disaster to the people
43 Ibid., pp. 3-4.
44 Ibid., p. 117.
45 Ibid., pp. 2-3, 115.
46 Ibid., pp. 5-6.
47 Ibid., p. 6.
Congressional Research Service
18
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
who make a living from baseball.... [T]he people that sell the peanuts in the stands, the beer, and
the people that work in the concessions.”48 Echoing Representative Martinez’s concern,
Representative Engel noted that “[t]housands of people, many of them my constituents, rely on
Major League Baseball for their livelihood. They are the ticket takers, hot dog vendors, and small
business owners in the community.”49
Hearing on Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption and the Strike (103rd Congress)
In September 1994, the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Economic and
Commercial Law held a hearing on Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption and its
relationship to the ongoing strike.50
As shown by the following passages, Representative Jack Brooks, chairman of the subcommittee,
linked the two issues—baseball’s antitrust exemption and the strike—and concluded that
legislation was necessary.
Now, Congress doesn’t serve the function of mediator who shuttles between private parties
to resolve individual disputes. But we are, however, policymakers, policymakers with a long
memory.... They [the owners] may have shut it [baseball and the World Series, in particular]
down for the first time since 1904, but you might be underestimating Congress’ ability to
respond to the debacle we have witnessed since August 12. They would be wise to remember
there is a different rhythm to congressional deliberations and actions. The 406 games that
have been lost, the 12.6 million people who have not enjoyed paying and going to a game
have moved the issue of baseball’s antitrust exemption to this committee’s radar screen as
never before.51
As a result of the spectacle this Nation was forced to endure in the last few months and my
very grave concerns for the future of the institution [baseball], I have come to the conclusion
that legislation is needed to restore the principles of competition and fair play to the business
of baseball. I am well aware that there may be insufficient time to pass a stand alone bill in
the House before Congress adjourns, but I would remind the parties that the 104th Congress
is schedule to convene well before spring training begins and well before the scheduled
season opening on April 2. In addition, if before adjournment the Senate acts to attach a
limited repeal of the exemption on other legislation and sends it to the House, I would be
very open to allowing it to proceed directly to the President.52
Expressing similar sentiments, Representative John Conyers Jr. said: “We are not negotiators. We
are not bargainers, but we do make the law. We are responsible for our antitrust law. And it seems
to me that unless something happens before the end—the beginning of the season next year, I
think Congress is going to have a very heavy obligation to move in one of these directions.”53
48 Ibid., p. 4.
49 Ibid., p. 8.
50 The subcommittee’s initial hearing on baseball’s antitrust exemption was held prior to the strike, on March 31, 1993.
51 U.S. Congress, House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Economic and Commercial Law, Baseball’s
Antitrust Exemption (Part 2), 103rd Cong., 2nd sess., September 22, 1994, Serial No. 6 (Washington: GPO, 1994), p. 2.
52 Ibid., p. 177.
53 Ibid., pp. 153-154.
Congressional Research Service
19
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Representative Patricia Schroeder, in the following excerpt, characterized Congress’s lack of
action regarding baseball’s antitrust exemption as implicitly creating a link between Congress and
major league baseball.
I have seen the polls that the owners are circulating that tell us the public does not favor
Congressional involvement in the current dispute between the players and the owners. I
would suggest that each year that Congress allows the [antitrust] exemption to stand is
another year of Congressional involvement. By doing nothing, we are allowing the owners a
special entitlement.54
Offering another, yet related, perspective, Representative Sherwood Boehlert talked of Congress’s
responsibility for professional baseball. He said: “We believe that because of the unique station
that baseball holds in American society, and because of the legal privileges it has been granted by
Congress, we have a special responsibility to ensure that the game endures.”55
Although Representative Brooks concluded the hearing by citing the need for legislation, he and
at least two other subcommittee members (Representatives Conyers and Hamilton Fish Jr.)
encouraged the heads of the players union and Major League Baseball—both of whom testified at
the hearing—to resolve their differences through collective bargaining. Their comments (Brooks,
Fish, and Conyers, respectively) were as follows:
You know, we deal with problems all the time up here where I may have this position,
somebody else has another position, and we are hard set in them and we are going to go with
them. Yet very often in Congress people get together and realize that there are third and
fourth positions and what you thought was such a wonderful idea really is not that
significant, that important, and that you could have been wrong. I could have been wrong.
We could have done something else, and we reach those alternatives often here. That is what
compromise is, that is what politics is all about. That is what negotiations are all about, and I
would hope that you all would experience that opportunity. You have that opportunity any
time.56 [Brooks]
I don’t think anybody has missed the fact that the chairman and I would very much like the
parties here to resolve this dispute themselves and get on with the game.57 [Fish]
Gentlemen, this has been an important hearing so far because it sounds like we might be able
to get negotiations going again. I don’t want to be overoptimistic, but I would certainly want
to urge that if anything could come out of this hearing, the first thing that I think we would
all rejoice about would be the fact that you were able to get back to the bargaining table, and
I hope that could occur.58 [Conyers]
54 Ibid., p. 2.
55 Ibid., p. 25.
56 Ibid., pp. 148-149. Witnesses included the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association,
Donald M. Fehr, and the chairman of the Executive Council of Major League Baseball, Allan H. “Bud” Selig. Hence,
subcommittee members had an opportunity to address the parties to the dispute during the hearing.
57 Ibid., p. 151.
58 Ibid., p. 153.
Congressional Research Service
20
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
H.R. 45, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1995 (104th
Congress)
In introducing H.R. 45, Representative Conyers identified baseball’s antitrust exemption as being
“at the root of the current strike,” and suggested that Congress was in a position to intervene.
Specifically, he said that “[w]e have the opportunity and ability to rescue the national pastime
from its current dispiriting condition. Let’s not allow this opportunity to pass by or be deferred. I
urge all colleagues to join in the effort.”59
H.R. 105, H.R. 106, H.R. 365, and H.R. 1612 (104th Congress)
In the absence of introductory statements or hearings, it is not known whether these bills were
efforts to address the baseball strike, or reflect the Members’ general interest in professional
baseball. The bills and their titles and sponsors are as follows: H.R. 105, Baseball Antitrust
Restoration Amendment of 1995, Representative Michael Bilirakis; H.R. 106,60 Representative
Michael Bilirakis; H.R. 365, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1995,
Representative Charles Schumer; and, H.R. 1612, Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of
1995, Representative Jim Bunning.
H.R. 120, Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1995 (104th
Congress)
Although he did not mention his bill specifically, Representative Bunning stated that “[m]ajor
league baseball has to have this exemption removed for the good of the fans, the game, and
anybody else that wants a season in 1995.”61
H.R. 386, Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995 (104th Congress)
Similar to other Members who believed that the antitrust exemption was at the root of the strike,
Representative James A. Traficant Jr. believed that “[r]emoving this [antitrust] exemption may be
the only way to end the strike and save the 1995 season. That’s why today I am introducing the
Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995.”62
H.R. 397, Major League Play Ball Act (104th Congress)
While proposing a partial, or complete, repeal of baseball’s antitrust exemption was a relatively
common response to the strike, Representative Pat Williams, in the following excerpt,
recommended binding arbitration: “I have today introduced legislation to provide mandatory and
binding arbitration if the parties fail to reach agreement. Collective bargaining in this country
59 Rep. John Conyers, Jr., “Baseball Fans and Communities Protection Act of 1995,” extension of remarks,
Congressional Record, daily edition, January 5, 1995, p. E43.
60 According to the Legislative Information System, this bill did not have a short title.
61 Rep. Jim Bunning, “Major League Baseball,” remarks in the House, Congressional Record, daily edition, January
17, 1995, p. H246.
62 Rep. James A. Traficant, Jr., “Make Professional Baseball Subject to the Antitrust Laws,” remarks in the House,
Congressional Record, daily edition, January 5, 1995, p. E51.
Congressional Research Service
21
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
works very well. The public, through their government, should intervene only in a crisis. We now
have reached a crisis in the well-being of our national pastime.”63
H.R. 735, National Commission on Professional Baseball Act of 1995 (104th
Congress)
Representative John J. LaFalce, in discussing the rationale for his bill, noted that someone (that
is, Congress) needed to protect the fans’ interests, and proposed that regulating baseball was one
way to do this. Excerpts from Representative LaFalce’s statement are as follows:
It is clear that baseball owners and players will continue to look out only for their own needs.
But there is a crying need for someone to look out for the interests of fans, of taxpayers and
of the communities in which both major league and minor league baseball is played. It is
time for Congress to take steps to return baseball to the American people. The legislation I
am introducing today seeks to accomplish this by creating an independent National
Commission on Professional Baseball. The Commission would serve as a temporary
regulatory body and impartial arbitrator to oversee the conduct of professional baseball until
the legal status of major league baseball can be redefined either by negotiation or by
congressional legislation.64
My legislation does take the position that baseball’s antitrust exemption is, in effect, a
government-granted monopoly in much the same manner as a local public utility or
transportation authority. And like any other publicly-sanctioned monopoly, my bill would
require public oversight to assure that self-interest is not put above the interests of the public
and consumers. In this regard, the proposed commission would be similar to the Federal
Communications Commission, or any other public body with oversight over a restricted
industry or market. An important difference, however is the fact that the authority of the
proposed Commission is intended to be temporary during a period of deregulation of
baseball from the current market restrictions imposed by baseball’s current antitrust
exemption. Since Federal law has permitted a restricted national market for major league
baseball, the Federal Government has both the right and the responsibility to regulate this
market, just as we regulate other monopolies, to assure that the public’s interests are
protected.65
H.R. 74966 (104th Congress)
Advocating an approach also favored by several of his colleagues, Representative Estaban
Edward Torres introduced legislation to repeal baseball’s antitrust exemption. He provided the
following reasons for doing so: “For the short term, I believe repealing the antitrust exemption
will accelerate the end of the baseball shutdown, which threatens the livelihoods of thousands of
Americans and the economies of cities and towns across the country. For the long term, I believe
63 Rep. Pat Williams, “Play Ball,” extension of remarks, Congressional Record, daily edition, January 5, 1995, pp.
E49-E50.
64 Rep. John J. LaFalce, “National Commission on Professional Baseball,” remarks in the House, Congressional
Record, daily edition, vol. 141, part 18 (January 30, 1995), p. E212.
65 Ibid., p. E213.
66 According to the Legislative Information System, this bill did not have a short title.
Congressional Research Service
22
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
repealing the antitrust exemption will restore fairness to the fragile relationship of labor and
management in professional baseball.”67
H.R. 870 and S. 376, Major League Baseball Restoration Act (104th Congress)
As discussed below, President Clinton forwarded proposed legislation to Congress in 1995. His
proposal became H.R. 870, which was introduced by Representative Pat Williams, and S. 376,
which was introduced by Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
After noting that Congress generally prefers to let parties involved in labor disputes reach a
settlement on their own, Senator Kennedy offered several reasons why it was desirable for
Congress to intervene in the baseball strike. In the following excerpts from his remarks, he
touched on Congress’s authority to regulate interstate commerce and the special status of baseball
in America.
Generally, Congress is reluctant to inject itself in labor disputes. All of us hope that the
parties will find a way to end the impasse and settle their differences voluntarily. But there
are rare instances in which Congress has a role to play in settling such disputes, and this may
well be one of those times.
There is no doubt that Congress’ constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce
gives us the power to enact legislation to settle this dispute. Many aspects of major league
baseball affect commerce between the States....
Obviously, Congress does not intervene in every labor dispute that burdens interstate
commerce, but baseball is different and unique. It is more than a nationwide industry. It is
our national sport. Baseball is part of American life.
We in Congress as representatives of fans throughout the country should not remain silent
while baseball is damaged by a strike that the owners and players seem unable to resolve
themselves. Clearly, Congress has the power to act. The question is who speaks for Red Sox
and millions of other fans across America. At this stage in the deadlock, if Congress does not
speak for them, it may well be that no one will.
For all these reasons, Congress can act and should be prepared to act. Legislation to end the
strike would not set a precedent for injecting Congress into other labor disputes. There is still
time for the owners and players to resolve this dispute on their own or to act voluntarily to
establish a safety mechanism for doing so.68
S. 15, National Pastime Preservation Act of 1995 (104th Congress)
S. 15 was yet another bill that, if enacted, would have repealed baseball’s antitrust exemption. Its
sponsor, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, made the following remarks when he introduced the
bill:
67 Rep. Estaban Edward Torres, “Legislation to Repeal Anti-Trust Exemption Regarding Major League Baseball,”
extension of remarks, Congressional Record, daily edition, January 31, 1995, p. E236.
68 Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, “Binding Arbitration to Settle Baseball Strike,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional
Record, daily edition, February 9, 1995, p. S2430.
Congressional Research Service
23
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
As a result of this anomaly [baseball’s antitrust exemption] in American law, Mr. President,
the World Series was cancelled in 1994 for the first time since 1904. With none of the legal
restraints that prevent other businesses from engaging in anticompetitive behavior, the
baseball team owners are free to act as a cartel. To end this monopoly, Congress must
remove baseball’s antitrust exemption and subject the game to the same rules of law that
apply to all other major league sports.... Many Members of Congress have begun to examine
this issue more closely in view of the strike. My Friend Senator ORRIN HATCH, the new
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has indicated that he supports repealing the exemption
and is prepared to move a bill quickly through his committee.69
S. 415, Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995, and S. 416, Major
League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 199570 (104th Congress)
In February 1995, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business
Rights, and Competition held a hearing on baseball’s antitrust exemption and two bills, S. 415
and S. 416, that would apply antitrust laws to professional baseball. At the hearing, several
Members offered diverse views regarding whether the proposed repeal of baseball’s antitrust
exemption ought to be linked to the strike and the desirability of congressional intervention in the
strike.
Senator Strom Thurmond, who introduced S. 416, did not link the partial, or complete, repeal of
baseball’s antitrust exemption to the ongoing strike. The following are excerpts from his remarks:
The Thurmond-Leahy legislation addresses baseball’s antitrust exemption, but is not
specially drafted in an attempt to solve the current baseball strike.... Some Members of
Congress believe that we should not get involved during the current strike, while other
Members have asserted that in the absence of a strike there is no need for the Congress to
take action on this issue. Whether there is a strike or not, it is my belief that it is proper for
the Congress to consider this antitrust issue as a matter of public policy.71
Regarding the purpose of the February 1995 hearing, Senator Thurmond said that it was
“intended to focus on the policy implications of baseball’s antitrust exemption, rather than the
details of the current baseball strike and the course of the unsuccessful negotiations. Although the
ongoing strike raises questions about the antitrust exemption, the problems in major league
baseball go deeper than this one strike.”72 Senator Thurmond added that he “intend[ed] to
continue working on this issue, even if the strike were to end today.”73
Senator Thurmond also shared his thoughts on the circumstances under which it might be
acceptable for government to intervene in a matter such as the baseball strike, indicating it
69 Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “National Pastime Preservation Act,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record,
daily edition, January 4, 1995, p. S176. (Small capitals in original.)
70 S. 415 and S. 416 are presented in a single subsection because one hearing was held for both bills.
71 Sen. Strom Thurmond, “The Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995,” remarks in the Senate,
Congressional Record, daily edition, February 15, 1995, p. S2660.
72 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition,
The Court-Imposed Major League Baseball Antitrust Exemption, hearing on S. 415 and S. 416, 104th Cong., 1st sess.,
February 15, 1995, S. Hrg. 104-682 (Washington: GPO, 1996), p. 3.
73 Ibid., pp. 2-3.
Congressional Research Service
24
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
depended upon whether the public interest would be served. In the following passage, the Senator
also commented on Congress’s implicit involvement in baseball’s antitrust exemption.
Despite our interest in seeing the players return to the field, we must be ever mindful of the
need to limit Federal Government intervention into matters best left to private remedies. The
Congress should determine how much Federal involvement, if any, serves the public interest
in this area. But as long as the special antitrust exemption remains in place for baseball, the
Congress is involved. The Congress has an impact on the sport by simply permitting the
special exemption to remain long after the factual basis for it has disappeared.74
Senator Orrin G. Hatch, who introduced S. 415, was one of several subcommittee members that
linked the ongoing baseball strike to professional baseball’s antitrust exemption, and, accordingly,
supported eliminating the exemption. Senator Hatch’s comments were as follows:
Unlike other legislation that has been proposed, my bill would not impose a big-government
solution. On the contrary, it would get government out of the way by eliminating a serious
Government-made obstacle [baseball’s antitrust exemption] to settlement....
A limited repeal of this antitrust immunity is now in order. Labor negotiations between
owners and players are impeded by the fact that baseball players, unlike all other workers,
have no resort under the law if the baseball owners act in a manner that would, in the absence
of the immunity, violate the antitrust laws. This aberration in the antitrust laws has handed
the owners a huge club that gives them unique leverage in bargaining and discourages them
from accepting reasonable terms. This is an aberration that Government has created, and it is
an aberration that Government should fix....
This legislation would not impose any terms of settlement on the disputing parties, nor
would it require that they reach a settlement. Rather, it would simply remove a serious
impediment to settlement—an impediment that is the product of an aberration in our antitrust
laws. In short, far from involving any governmental intrusion into the pending baseball
dispute, the legislation would get Government out of the way.75
Although Senator Patrick Leahy was Senator Thurmond’s cosponsor, he is one of the Members
who asserted that the antitrust exemption played a role in the strike. However, he also identified,
in the following comments, two other factors that he asserted contributed to the ongoing dispute.
There is a public interest in the resumption of true, major league baseball. The current
situation derives at least in part from circumstances in which the Federal antitrust laws have
not applied, Congress has provided no regulatory framework to protect the public, and the
major leagues have chosen to operate without a strong, independent commissioner who
could look out for the best interest of baseball. Thus, competing financial interests continue
to clash, with no resolution in sight.76
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, although an original cosponsor of S. 415, favored resolution of
the labor-management dispute through collective agreement. Excerpts from his remarks are as
follows:
74 Ibid., p. 1.
75 Sen. Orrin Hatch, “The Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional
Record, daily edition, February 14, 1995, p. S2659.
76 Sen. Patrick Leahy, “The Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995,” remarks in the Senate,
Congressional Record, daily edition, February 15, 1995, p. S2661.
Congressional Research Service
25
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Clearly baseball is a business engaged in interstate commerce, and should be subject to the
antitrust laws to the same extent that all other businesses are. But the greater point is that the
strike must be settled through good-faith bargaining between the parties. I will support this
and any other effort that will move the parties forward toward a collective bargaining
agreement—and the resumption of baseball in America as soon as possible.77
As a former Assistant Secretary of Labor under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, I agree
with Senator Hatch, Senator Kassebaum, and others who have said Congress ought not
interfere in the collective bargaining process—in baseball or any other industry. Absent
some compelling national interest, Congress has always been reluctant to intervene in labor
disputes, and properly so. Yet by our inaction with regard to the antitrust exemption, we
have been interfering with baseball for half a century.78
Other members of the subcommittee offered reasons why Congress should refrain from
intervening in the strike. Senator Arlen Specter simply stated that he did not “think that the
Congress ought to intervene when a dispute is in process, and certainly not to order binding
arbitration.”79 Senator Howell Heflin, who said he had “great reservations about Congress
intervening in any labor dispute,” described two of them in the following passage:
Reservations, No. 1, as to whether or not we are equipped to be the decisionmaker and
whether we ought to take action which might be favorable or unfavorable to one side or the
other. I have also questions as to whether or not in any labor dispute anything other than the
economic pressures that come to bear should have a substantial interest or controlling
interest in the determination of the settlement of the dispute or the terms that come up. On
the other hand, I want to see baseball played. I want to see the fans’ interest in it gratified.80
Raising questions regarding, for example, Congress’s priorities and the expected effectiveness of
the proposed legislation, Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum said the following:
At the outset, let me say that I believe it would be a mistake for Congress to intervene in the
current dispute between the Major League Baseball owners and players. It is not the role of
Congress—absent a national emergency—to force a settlement or take sides in a private
labor dispute. To make an exception in this case would establish a very dangerous
precedent.... Let me outline briefly my three principal objections to the Hatch-Moynihan bill.
First, the Hatch-Moynihan bill [S. 415]—by its own terms—would be a direct intervention
by Congress in the current baseball labor dispute.... Again, I believe it is a mistake for us to
intervene by changing the rules in the middle of the game.
Second, not only would Hatch-Moynihan intervene in the current dispute, it would, worse
still, take sides.... Hatch-Moynihan would treat the baseball owners less favorably than any
other industry by excluding baseball’s collective bargaining process from federal antitrust
laws. This would allow the players to take the dispute to court, a right nonlabor organization
now enjoys....
77 Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, “The Professional Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995,” remarks in the Senate,
Congressional Record, daily edition, February 15, 1995, p. S2660.
78 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition,
The Court-Imposed Major League Baseball Antitrust Exemption, p. 7. (Italics in original.)
79 Ibid., p. 73.
80 Ibid., p. 68.
Congressional Research Service
26
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Finally, it is my view that consideration of this or any legislation, at this time, will only
impede further negotiations and decrease the likelihood of a settlement. As long as one side
or the other believes there is a possibility that Congress will step in, meaningful negotiations
will not occur.81
S. 627, Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1995 (104th Congress)
Having introduced S. 415 previously, Senator Hatch, along with four colleagues, including
Senator Thurmond, introduced a new bill, S. 627, in March 1995. Senator Hatch’s and Senator
Thurmond’s positions remained unchanged regarding whether the purpose of the legislation was
to facilitate the resolution of the strike (Hatch’s position), or to terminate Congress’s connection
to baseball’s antitrust exemption (Thurmond’s position).82
During a hearing on S. 627, several members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary provided
a variety of reasons why Congress ought not to intervene in the strike. Questions about
congressional priorities, the potential for legislation to disrupt collective bargaining efforts, and
concern that congressional action would be viewed as favoring one party to the dispute over the
other were put forth as reasons for Congress not to act. Senator Specter’s, Senator Paul Simon’s,
and Senators Hank Brown and Dianne Feinstein’s comments were as follows, respectively:
Whatever the merits of eliminating major league baseball’s broad, judicially created
exemption from the antitrust laws, Congress should not act while the labor situation remains
uncertain. Any action we take is certain to be viewed as favoring one side to the dispute or
the other. In such instances, Congress acts best when it does not act at all. The complex labor
problems that have characterized baseball for the past years ought to be resolved by the
parties without congressional interference.... Whether or not that [baseball’s] exemption
ought to be retained, I believe strongly that given the current state of play, it would be a
mistake for Congress to enact this bill. This bill would only upset the current situation,
making it less likely that the parties to baseball’s labor strife will be able to resolve their
dispute between themselves. We should not lose sight of the fact that voluntary collective
bargaining is the basis of labor relations in this country. The parties should be left to settle
their current impasse themselves without interference from Congress.83 [Specter]
In approving a repeal of major league baseball’s longstanding antitrust exemption, this
Committee has decided to alter the balance of power in an ongoing labor dispute between
millionaires while the truly pressing problems facing our nation remain unresolved. Congress
should be devoting its time and resources to other matters rather than inserting itself into a
controversy for which both sides deserve blame. Indeed, of the many labor disputes ongoing
in America today, I can think of few, if any, that are less deserving of our attention than this
one.... The variety of problems facing our professional sports leagues demonstrates that even
if professional baseball is a deserving subject of Congress’s attention, such consideration
should not take place on an ad hoc basis, in response to one ‘crisis’ or another, but should be
part of an overall and careful reexamination of professional sports under the law. Only by
studying the issue raised by S. 627 in this broader context can Congress avoid the justifiable
81 Ibid., p. 6.
82 Sen. Orrin Hatch, “Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act,” remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record,
daily edition, March 27, 1995, p. S4660; Sen. Strom Thurmond, “Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act,”
remarks in the Senate, Congressional Record, daily edition, March 27, 1995, p. S4660.
83 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Major League Baseball Reform Act of 1995, report to accompany
S. 627, 104th Cong., 2nd sess., February 6, 1006, S.Rept. 104-231 (Washington:GPO, 1996), pp. 19-20.
Congressional Research Service
27
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
criticism that it is simply playing favorites in a rancorous dispute that, but for the parties’
stubbornness and lack of reason, should have been resolved long ago.84 [Simon]
The current bill intervenes in a continuing labor dispute. The majority report justifies this
legislation on the basis that it ‘would help resolve baseball’s labor problems.’ This
conclusion is dubious at best. The middle of an ongoing labor dispute is not the right time to
change the rules of the game. Both President Clinton and his chosen mediator, William
Usery, repeatedly stated that the problems of baseball should be decided at the negotiating
table. But, every time this issue comes before Congress, the parties drop what they are doing,
leave the negotiating table, and focus their efforts on legislation.85 Proponents of the
legislation suggest that all of the labor discord in Baseball can somehow be attributed to the
existence of the exemption and that its elimination would be a labor panacea. Nothing could
be further from the truth. In fact, all that its elimination would cause is unbridled litigation.86
[Brown and Feinstein]
White House Efforts to Aid in Resolving the Strike
On October 14, 1994, the Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, announced that former Labor
Secretary William Usery had “agreed to mediate the labor dispute between Major League
Baseball players and owners. And the players and owners have agreed to resume negotiations
with Bill Usery as special mediator.”87
On January 26, 1995, President Clinton issued a statement, saying that he had asked Mr. Usery
“to bring the owners and the players back to the table, and to step up the pace and intensity of his
mediation efforts. I have asked him to report back to me by February 6 with the progress they
have made.” While the President said that “[i]t has always been my belief—and continues to be—
that the baseball strike, like any labor dispute, should be settled through good-faith bargaining
between the parties,” he added “[b]ut we cannot wait indefinitely.”88
On February 7, 1995, President Clinton “summoned the two sides to the White House … for a
last-ditch negotiating session,” which, ultimately, was unsuccessful.89 Speaking in the briefing
room at the White House shortly before 11:00 p.m. on February 7, President Clinton provided the
following update:
Clearly they are not capable of settling this strike without an umpire. So I have now
concluded, since I have no legal authority in this situation, as all of you know and have
known for some time, that I should send to the Congress legislation seeking binding
arbitration of the baseball dispute. This is not a request for a congressionally imposed
84 Ibid., pp. 21-22. (Italics in original.)
85 Ibid., pp. 24-25.
86 Ibid., p. 26.
87 White House, “Press Briefing by Secretary of Labor Bob Reich, Bill Usery, Bud Selig, and Don Fehr,” press release,
October 14, 1994, http://clinton6.nara.gov/1994/10/1994-10-14-briefing-on-baseball-negotiations.html.
88 U.S. President (Clinton), “Statement on the Baseball Strike,” Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, vol. 31
(January 26, 1995), p. 124.
89 David Hosansky, “President Swings and Misses at Baseball Strike,” Congressional Quarterly, February 11, 1995, p.
449.
Congressional Research Service
28
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
solution. It is a request for the only process we have left to us to find a solution through
neutral parties.90
After acknowledging that Congress has “other pressing business,” the President added, “[a]t least
when the bill [I propose] goes to the Congress, the American people can make themselves heard
one way or the other on the legislation and Congress can consider it.”91
The next day, President Clinton transmitted proposed legislation, “Major League Baseball
Restoration Act,” to Congress. As discussed above, Representative Williams and Senator
Kennedy introduced the bill in the House of Representatives (H.R. 870) and the Senate (S. 376),
respectively. The President’s rationale for proposing legislation included the following reasons:
“If the dispute is permitted to continue, there is likely to be substantial economic damage to the
cities and communities in which major league franchises are located and to the communities that
host spring training. The ongoing dispute also threatens further serious harm to an important
national institution.”92
Discussion
As measured by the number of legislative measures introduced and hearings held, and as shown
in Table 8, Congress was most active during the 1994 strike. The 232-day baseball strike lasted
much longer than the two NFL strikes and included the loss of the 1994 World Series. The 1982
and 1987 strikes were relatively short by comparison, lasting 57 days and 24 days, respectively.
Although the 1987 strike involved the use of replacement players for several games during the
regular season, the season was capped by the Super Bowl. The 1982 Super Bowl also was held.
Table 8. Congressional Activity During Strikes
1982 NFL Strike
1987 NFL Strike
1994 MLB Strike
Legislative Measure(s)
3
1
22a
Hearing(s)
0
0
5
Source: Legislative Information System, at http://www.congress.gov.
Notes:
a. As discussed above, it is uncertain whether H.R. 105, H.R. 106, H.R. 365, and H.R. 1612, which are included
here, were related to the 1994 MLB strike.
Table 9 organizes the legislative measures according to the method proposed for resolving the
dispute. S. 3003 (97th Congress) is included in two columns (impose binding arbitration and
require league and players to resume activities) because it included two noteworthy provisions.
90 U.S. President (Clinton), “Remarks on the Major League Baseball Strike and an Exchange with Reporters,” Weekly
Compilation of Presidential Documents, vol. 31 (February 7, 1995), p. 204.
91 Ibid., p. 205.
92 U.S. President (Clinton), “Message to the Congress Transmitting the ‘Major League Baseball Restoration Act,’”
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, vol. 31 (February 9, 1995), p. 224.
Congressional Research Service
29
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Table 9. Methods Proposed for Resolving the Strikes
Require
Eliminate or
Amend the
League and
Impose
Modify MLB’s
Sports
Players to
Support
Establish a
Binding
Antitrust
Broadcasting
Resume
Reconciliation
Commission
Arbitration
Exemption
Act
Activities
(Congress)
(Congress)
(Congress)
(Congress)
(Congress)
(Congress)
H.Res. 597
S. 2401 (103rd)
S. 3003 (97th)a
S. 2380 (103rd)
H.R. 105 (104th)b S. 3 003 (97th)a,c
(97th)
H.R. 735 (104th) H.R. 5095
S.Amdt. 2601 to
H.Res. 598
(103rd)
H.R. 4649
(97th)
(103rd)
H.R. 397 (104th)
S.Res. 294
H.R. 4965
(100
Y.R. 870 (104th)
th)
(103rd)
S. 376 (104th)
H.R. 4994
(103rd)
H.R. 45 (104th)
H.R. 106b (104th)
H.R. 120 (104th)
H.R. 365b (104th)
H.R. 386 (104th)
H.R. 749 (104th)
H.R. 1612b
(104th)
S. 15 (104th)
S. 415 (104th)
S. 416 (104th)
S. 627 (104th)
Source: Legislative Information System, at http://www.congress.gov.
Notes:
a. This bill is included in two columns.
b. As discussed above, it is uncertain whether H.R. 105, H.R. 106, H.R. 365, and H.R. 1612 were related to the
1994 MLB strike.
c. While urging the NFL and the NFLPA to “take al necessary steps to resume activities,” S. 3003 would have
directed them to return to the “status quo” that existed “prior to 12:01 antemeridian [morning] of
September 21, 1982,” which, in effect would have required that games be resumed. (Sec. 3 of S. 3003 (97th
Congress).) The final game played before the strike began took place Monday night, Sept. 20, 1982, between
the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants. Hence, the language in S. 3003 refers to the status quo of
the regular season. (Len Pasquarelli, “Lengthy Strike Has Mostly Been Forgotten,” ESPN.com, Sept. 21, 2007,
at http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarel i_len&id=3030311.
Three methods were proposed for ending the 1982 or 1987 NFL strikes—impose binding
arbitration, encourage the parties to reconcile their differences, or require the league and players
to resume normal activities (that is, resume playing games). Neither of the latter two options was
proposed for baseball. Major league baseball enjoys a unique status as the only professional sport
in the United States that has a broad antitrust exemption, and 15 legislative measures targeted the
exemption, attempting to eliminate or modify it. Four measures were introduced that would have
Congressional Research Service
30
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
imposed binding arbitration on baseball; two measures would have established a commission to
oversee baseball; and one measure would have amended the Sports Broadcasting Act regarding
professional baseball.
The following table shows the disposition of the legislative measures introduced or offered in
response to the 1982 NFL strike, the 1987 NFL strike, or the 1994 MLB strike.
Table 10. Disposition of Legislative Measures
Placed on Senate or
Withdrawn
Not Reported by
House Calendar
Agreed to by Voice
(Congress)
Committeea (Congress)
(Congress)
Vote (Congress)
S.Amdt. 2601 to H.R.
H.Res. 597 (97th)
S. 2380 (103rd)
S.Res. 294 (100th)
4649 (103rd)
H.Res. 598 (97th)
H.R. 4994 (103rd)
S. 3003 (97th)
S. 376 (104th)
H.R. 4965 (103rd)
S. 627 (104th)
S. 2401 (103rd)
H.R. 5095 (103rd)
H.R. 45 (104th)
H.R. 105 (104th) b
H.R. 106 (104th) b
H.R. 120 (104th)
H.R. 365 (104th) b
H.R. 386 (104th)
H.R. 397 (104th)
H.R. 735 (104th)
H.R. 749 (104th)
H.R. 870 (104th)
H.R. 1612 (104th) b
S. 15 (104th)
S. 415 (104th)
S. 416 (104th)
Source: Legislative Information System, at http://www.congress.gov.
Notes:
a. These are bills that were referred to a committee, but were not reported by the committee. See Table 5,
Table 6, and Table 7.
b. As discussed above, it is uncertain whether H.R. 105, H.R. 106, H.R. 365, and H.R. 1612 were related to the
1994 MLB strike.
Among the 26 legislative measures introduced, the only one that was approved was S.Res. 294
(100th Congress), which encouraged NFL players and management to return to the bargaining
table. Four bills, all related to the 1994 baseball strike, were placed on a Senate or House
calendar. The one amendment (S.Amdt. 2601 to H.R. 4649 (103rd Congress)) that was offered
was withdrawn. Most of the measures (20) were not reported by committee.
Congressional Research Service
31
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Appendix A. Summary of NFL Labor History93
Chronology
1982
“The NFLPA’s request to team owners to receive 55 percent of league revenue is
denied, prompting a 57-day strike. The PA [players association] gains little.”
1987
“NFL players vote to strike and owners field replacement players, After only 24
days, the players end their strike with no appreciable gains earned. The union files
suit against the NFL, claiming that labor laws and collective bargaining, as conducted
by the league, aren’t working for the benefit of its players. A judge agrees, and in
1989, the Plan B limited system of free agency begins.”
1989
“A federal appeals court reverses the 1987 court decision, claiming that antitrust
laws do not apply because the NFLPA is a labor union. NFLPA Executive Director
Gene Upshaw immediately decertifies the union.”
1992
“Players win the right to free agency in the Freeman McNeil antitrust case, clearing
the way for new collective-bargaining agreement negotiations.”
1993
“The NFLPA is recertified as a union, the final step necessary before signing a new
CBA. The new agreement establishes the league’s first year of free agency and its
first salary cap, which is set at $35 million. That cap will subsequently rise; for the
2009 season, it is projected to be $123 million.”
2005
“The salary cap increases to $85.5 million, boosted by the opening of five new
stadiums and three extensive renovations since the last extension of the CBA, in
2002.”
2006
“NFL owners vote 30-2 to accept the NFLPA’s proposal to extend the CBA, a deal
that gives the players approximately 60 percent of total footbal revenue.”
2009
“Owners in May vote 32-0 to opt out of the CBA they agreed to extend in 2006.”
93 David Broughton, “NFL Labor Timeline,” Sports Business Journal, September 1, 2008, p. 32.
Congressional Research Service
32
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Appendix B. Sports and Labor-Management
Relations94
The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)95 governs labor-management relations in the private
sector and applies generally to professional sports employers. Under the NLRA, employers and
unions are required to bargain in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and
conditions of employment.96 Employers and unions are required to bargain over these mandatory
subjects of bargaining to the point of impasse. The NLRA does not obligate either party, however,
to agree to a proposal or to make a concession.97 In fact, collective bargaining presupposes the
availability of certain economic weapons as part of the negotiating process.98 For example,
employees are permitted to strike if collective bargaining fails to achieve higher wages or
improved working conditions.99 Similarly, during certain work stoppages, an employer may use
replacement workers to continue the operation of its business.
Although the NLRA contemplates possible strikes by employees, it does provide for mediation
and conciliation services to settle certain disputes. The NLRA authorizes the Federal Mediation
and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to provide mediation and conciliation services upon its own
motion or upon the request of one or more of the parties to a dispute whenever “in its judgment
such dispute threatens to cause a substantial interruption of commerce.”100 The FMCS is directed,
however, to avoid mediating disputes that would have only a minor effect on interstate commerce,
if state or other conciliation services are available to the parties.101 Where the FMCS is involved
in a dispute, it is limited to providing only mediation and conciliation services, and may not issue
a binding arbitration decision.
As noted earlier in this report, numerous measures were introduced in Congress in 1982 and 1994
to prescribe binding arbitration to resolve the NFL and MLB strikes. In general, these measures
would have established a board or panel to take testimony, conduct hearings, and review relevant
books and records. The board or panel would then consider various factors in conjunction with
the information it received before rendering a final decision or agreement that would bind the
parties and replace the expired collective bargaining agreement. Some of the factors that would
have been considered include the history of collective bargaining agreements between the parties,
the changes in circumstances of the parties, and an owner’s ability to pay.102 Unlike current
legislation, such as the Employee Free Choice Act,103 that would amend the NLRA to prescribe
binding arbitration if certain conditions are not met in any private labor negotiation, many of the
94 This section was written by Jon Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division.
95 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq.
96 29 U.S.C. § 158(d).
97 Id.
98 See The Developing Labor Law 1572 (John E. Higgins, Jr. et al. eds., 2006).
99 29 U.S.C. § 163.
100 29 U.S.C. § 173(b).
101 Id.
102 See, e.g., Major League Play Ball Act, H.R. 5095, 103d Cong. (1994); Major League Baseball Restoration Act, H.R.
870, 104th Cong. (1995).
103 For additional information on the Employee Free Choice Act, see CRS Report RS21887, The Employee Free Choice
Act, by Jon O. Shimabukuro.
Congressional Research Service
33
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
NFL and MLB measures would have established a panel or board to resolve a specific strike. It
appears that the panel or board would have ceased to operate once a decision was reached.
Arbitration is often favored by disputing parties because it allows generally for the selection of
arbitrators who have expertise in the industry in which the dispute arises.104 Unlike judges who
may or may not be familiar with certain industry concepts, arbitrators may be people who have
worked as officials or regulators in the relevant community.105 Indeed, at least one of the MLB
measures would have established an arbitration board consisting of one representative of the
owners of major league baseball selected by the owners, one representative of the major league
baseball player’s association selected by the association, and a third individual selected in
accordance with the procedures of the American Arbitration Association or procedures otherwise
agreed to by the parties.106
Supporters of arbitration have also maintained that it provides for faster dispute resolution
because it is not subject generally to the rules and procedures that exist with litigation.
Increasingly, however, the use of lawyers is becoming more common in arbitration.
Consequently, whether arbitration is really a cost-effective alternative to litigation has been
questioned. It has also been noted that arbitration fees may be costly.
104 See, e.g., Jay J. Madrid & Jay G. Martin, Advantages of Using Mediation and Arbitration to Settle Environmental
Disputes, in Environmental Dispute Resolution: An Anthology of Practical Solutions 46 (Ann L. MacNaughton & Jay
G. Martin eds., 2002).
105 Id.
106 See Major League Play Ball Act, H.R. 5095, 103d Cong. (1994).
Congressional Research Service
34
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
Appendix C. Antitrust Exemptions Applicable to
Professional Sports107
There is one statutory exemption from the antitrust laws applicable generally to professional
sports, the Sports Broadcasting Act,108 and two non-statutory exemptions: the so-called “baseball
antitrust exemption” describes the fact that major league baseball, alone among professional
sports, is not covered by the antitrust laws;109 the judicially created labor-antitrust exemption is
utilized by all professional sports leagues inasmuch as it is applicable to the collective bargaining
agreements between players and their teams. Each will be briefly summarized in the following
paragraphs, after which an element in many, if not most, professional team-sports contracts—the
“reserve” clause110—will be noted and briefly discussed. Finally, there will be a short section on
the 1998 congressional attempt to limit the “baseball antitrust exemption.” Further, or more
specific, information may be obtained directly from the author(s).
Sports Broadcasting Act (SBA)
The SBA’s five sections include the following:
The first section of the act (15 U.S.C. § 1291) authorizes professional sports teams (including
football teams) to pool, by “joint agreement,” their broadcasting (“sponsored telecasting”)111
rights in their games in order that their leagues may sell or transfer those rights; and specifically
makes the federal antitrust laws inapplicable to such joint agreements and sales or transfers.112 (In
1988, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the provision does not limit the
antitrust exemption to a single, pooled-rights contract with a single television network.113)
15 U.S.C. § 1292 clarifies that the antitrust exemption granted in § 1291 does not apply to
contracts for the sale of telecasting rights that seek to limit the buyer’s right to telecast games into
107 This section originally was written by Janice E. Rubin, who has retired from CRS. Readers with questions about
this section’s subject matter may contact Kathleen Ann Ruane.
108 15 U.S.C. §§ 1291-1295 (P.L. 87-331).
109 For more information on Major League Baseball’s antitrust status, see CRS Report 98-820, "Curt Flood Act of
1998": Application of Federal Antitrust Laws to Major League Baseball Players, by Janice E. Rubin. Rubin. The
Report also addresses the interaction between the two non-statutory exemptions/doctrines.
110 The similar clause in NFL contracts is called the Rozelle Rule.
111 The exemption does not apply to agreements between the leagues and cable or satellite media. Shaw v. Dallas
Cowboys Football Club, Ltd., 1998 WL 419765 (E.D. Pa. 1998), aff’d., 172 F.3d 299, 301 (3d Cir. 1999). According to
the court of appeals, after it noted some of the act’s legislative history, SBA’s purpose was “to preserve the availability
of [professional] games on free broadcast” (emphasis added).
112 The section was amended in 1966 to permit the merger of the then-American Football League (AFL) and the NFL
on the condition that the merger increase rather than decrease the number of professional football teams.
113 U.S. Football League v. National Football League, 842 F.2d 1335, 1353 (2d Cir. 1988), aff’g, 644 F.Supp. 1040
(S.D.N.Y. 1986). Although multiple contracts are considered to be covered by § 1291, those which seek to limit the
rights of individual teams to sell their rights to games not included in a contract remain fully subject to the antitrust
laws to the extent that they attempt to impose such limits (e.g., Chicago Professional Sports Ltd. Partnership v.
National Basketball Ass’n, 754 F.Supp. 1336, 1352 (N.D. Ill. 1991), aff’d, 961 F.2d 667 (7th Cir. 1992), reh. denied;
cert. denied, 506 U.S. 954 (1992)).
Congressional Research Service
35
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
any territory, except that a league may prohibit the telecasting of games into the home territory of
any team when that team is playing a home game.114
The other three sections of the SBA (1) carve out Friday evenings (after 6 o’clock) and all day
Saturdays between the second Friday in September and the second Saturday in December for high
school and college games by specifically noting that the antitrust exemption provided in § 1291
does not apply to contracts that permit the telecasts of professional games during those times if
the high school or college games were announced prior to August 1 of the applicable year as
“regularly scheduled for such day and place” (§ 1293); (2) clarify that with the exception of the
exemption granted in § 1291, the applicability of the antitrust laws to “organized professional
team sports” remains unchanged (§ 1294); and (3) define “persons” as meaning individuals,
partnerships, corporations, or “unincorporated association[s]115 or any combination” of them (§
1295).
“Baseball Antitrust Exemption”
The so-called “baseball antitrust exemption”—a convenient and much-used shorthand phrase—is,
technically, not accurate because it implies positive action by Congress to grant an exemption. In
fact, the “exemption” is the result of an historical accident: the first case to come before the
Supreme Court alleging a violation of the antitrust laws occurred prior to the Supreme Court’s
expansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause. In that case, the Court held that the business of
putting on “exhibitions of baseball” could not be considered commerce for purposes of federal
antitrust jurisdiction;116 and although the Court has had several opportunities to reverse its
position that the antitrust laws are not applicable to professional baseball, it has never done so,
preferring that the change be made specifically by Congress.117
114 The prohibition is applicable to agreements with any station whose broadcast signal penetrates into the home
territory, not only those actually located in the home territory. See, e.g., WTWV, Inc. v. National Football League, 678
F.2d 142 (11th Cir. 1982).
The 1973 legislation (an amendment to the Communications Act) that required the leagues to lift the blackout of any
pooled telecast if all the tickets available for purchase five days before the game were sold seventy-two hours prior to
the game (47 U.S.C. § 331) was repealed in 1975, as mandated in the law, P.L. 93-107. The leagues have continued,
however, to abide by that regime: “The sports leagues, wary about angering legions of sports fans who have become
accustomed to watching sold-out home games on television, have, in effect, made the law permanent by voluntarily
adhering to its terms for the past sixteen years. Few people, in fact, realize that the legislation expired at the end of the
1975 football season.” (Dean A. Rosen, BACK TO THE FUTURE AGAIN: AN OBLIQUE LOOK AT THE SPORTS
BROADCASTING ACT OF 1961, 13 (NO. 5) Entertainment L. Rep. 3, 6 (1991)).
115 “The NFL is an unincorporated association of football teams ....” Stringer v. National Football League, 474
F.Supp.2d 894, 898 (S.D. Ohio 2007); see also, other cases in which the NFL is a party, including, e.g., National
Football League Players Ass’n v. National Football League Properties, Inc., 1991 WL 156280 (S.D.N.Y. 1991).
116 Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, 259 U.S. 200, 208-209
(1922). The suit against the National League alleged it had acted in contravention of the antitrust laws to destroy the
rival Federal League.
117 In 1953, in Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc. 346 U.S. 356, 357, the Court reaffirmed the position it had taken in
Federal Baseball, although it did note that “if there are evils in this field which now warrant application to it of the
antitrust laws it should be by legislation” and not by judicial action. By 1972, although the Court’s “expanding
interpretation of the commerce power” led it to state unequivocally that “professional baseball is a business … engaged
in interstate commerce,” and despite the fact that in 1972 it considered the antitrust exempt status of professional
baseball to be an “anomaly” and an “aberration,” the “inconsistency or illogic” of the situation would have to be
“remedied by the Congress and not by the Supreme Court” (Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258, 282, 284, emphasis added;
see, also, Piazza v. Major League Baseball, 831 F.Supp. 435 (E.D. Pa. 1993)).
Congressional Research Service
36
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
While the fact of an antitrust exemption for professional baseball has been recognized since 1922,
the extent and scope of that exemption, however, has been the subject of some lower court
discussion. At least one court has interpreted the Supreme Court’s holdings and language as
limiting the exemption to baseball’s “reserve system,” noted, infra, pursuant to which player
movement from team to team may be restrained.
Labor-Antitrust Exemption
The judicially created labor-antitrust exemption holds that Congress’s desire to foster collective
bargaining is best furthered by permitting employees who wish to jointly negotiate the terms of
their employment contracts to do so without fear of violating the antitrust laws. The exemption is
not completely open-ended, however, specifying that the practices negotiated must (1) inherently
constitute mandatory subjects of collective bargaining (i.e., be bona fide terms or conditions of
employment); (2) be no more restrictive than necessary to realize the goal(s) it/they purport(s) to
achieve; and (3) be embodied in a valid, genuinely negotiated (i.e., arm’s-length) collective
bargaining agreement. In addition, some courts have indicated that another factor to be evaluated
is whether the restraint embodied in the agreement affects only or primarily the parties to the
agreement (as opposed to competitors of either).118 If the labor-antitrust doctrine is applicable, it
covers the management as well as labor parties to a collective bargaining agreement. As the
Supreme Court explained in Connell Construction Co. v. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local Union
No. 100,
The nonstatutory exemption has its source in the strong labor policy favoring the association
of employees to eliminate competition over wages and working conditions. Union success in
organizing workers and standardizing wages ultimately will affect price competition among
employers, but the goals of federal labor law could never be achieved if this effect on
business competition were held a violation of the antitrust laws. The Court therefore has
acknowledged that labor policy requires tolerance for the lessening of business competition
based on differences in wages and working conditions. 119
The “Reserve” Clause in Professional Sports; Congress’s Attempt to
Address the Issue in the Context of the “Baseball Antitrust
Exemption”
Under most circumstances, the value of an offered service (e.g., the services of a professional
athlete) would be determined by the market. Prospective buyers of that service would bid on it
and bargain with the seller, who, if he has an especially unique or valuable commodity to sell,
would profit from his ability to exploit the competition among potential buyers. Once a
professional athlete is under contract to a sports team, however, the “reserve” clause in
professional sports prohibits that interplay among market participants by, in essence, binding the
athlete to the team that has him under contract—at least in the year following the contract’s
118 See, e.g., Mackey v. National Football League, 543 F.2d 606 (8th Cir. 1976); Smith v. Pro-Football, Inc., 593 F.2d
1173 (1978); Connell Construction Co. v. Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, 421 U.S. 616 (1975).
119 421 U.S. 616, 622 (1975).
Congressional Research Service
37
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
expiration. The argument that “the restriction of competition for players’ services is not a type of
restraint proscribed by the Sherman Act” has been made and rejected.120
But that same court would not dismiss the utility of the NFL’s “Rozelle” rule, noting that the
“‘ostensible purposes’ of the rule are to maintain competitive balance among … teams and protect
the clubs’ investment in scouting, selecting and developing players.”121 Even the district court
hearing the relatively recent challenge to baseball’s “reserve” clause observed:
Clearly the preponderance of credible proof does not favor elimination of the reserve clause.
With the sole exception of plaintiff [Curt Flood] himself, it shows that even plaintiff’s
witnesses do not contend that it is wholly undesirable; in fact they regard substantial portions
meritorious.122
Thus, the various “reserve” clauses have not been struck down completely; they have, however,
been modified to conform to judicial criticism of their enforcement and/or lack of bona fide
bargaining—most “reserve” clauses are simply imported from the leagues’ constitutions and
bylaws and inserted in their standard player contracts.
In the years after the Supreme Court’s Flood decision123 refusing to alter or remove baseball’s
antitrust exemption, Congress had made several attempts to act on the Court’s invitation in that
case to correct the historical accident of baseball’s antitrust exemption,124 but none was successful
until the passage of the Curt Flood Act by the 105th Congress.125 The Curt Flood Act is applicable
120 Mackey, supra, note 12, 543 F.2d at 616-17.
121 Id. at 611.
122 Flood v. Kuhn, 316 F.Supp. 271, 275-76 (S.D.N.Y.1970).
123 Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258 (1972).
124 “The Court has expressed concern [over the years, in several prior opinions] about the confusion and the
retroactivity problems that inevitably would result with a judicial overturning of Federal Baseball [Club of Baltimore,
Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, 259 U.S. 200 (1922)]. It has voiced a preference that if any
change is to be made, it come by legislative action that, by its nature, is only prospective in operation. … The Court
[has] noted … that the slate with respect to baseball is not clean. Indeed, it has not been clean for half a century. …
This emphasis and this concern are still with us. We continue to be loath, 50 years after Federal Baseball and almost
two decades after Toolson [v. New York Yankees, Inc. 346 U.S. 356 (1953)], to overturn those cases judicially when
Congress, by its positive inaction, has allowed those decisions to stand for so long and, far beyond mere inference and
implication, has clearly evinced a desire not to disapprove them legislatively. Accordingly, we adhere once again to
Federal Baseball and Toolson and to their application to professional baseball. … If there is any inconsistency or illogic
in all this, it is an inconsistency and illogic of long standing that is to be remedied by the Congress and not by this
Court.” 407 U.S. at 283-284 (emphasis added).
125 P.L. 105-297, codified at 15 U.S.C. § 26b. Its predecessor history includes, for example, the Final Report of the
House Select Committee on Professional Sports (94th Congress), which had concluded that “adequate justification does
not exist for baseball’s special exemption from the antitrust laws … [and] the exemption should be removed in the
context of overall sports antitrust reform” (Inquiry into Professional Sports (January3, 1977) at 60). Among the first
responses to that conclusion was H.R. 2129, prompted, according to its sponsor, by both the Court’s and the Committee
Report’s “invitations” to Congress; H.R. 2129 would have legislatively “repealed” the entirety of baseball’s antitrust
exemption (i.e., made the antitrust laws applicable to professional baseball), not merely the exemption as it has been
applied to the “reserve” clause. See 125 CONG. REC. 2521 (February 13, 1979).
In the 103d Congress, several bills to end or limit the exemption either remained pending in House and Senate
Committees or were reported but not acted upon by either the full House or Senate. For a more detailed listing of the
bills, see CRS Report 98-820, “Curt Flood Act of 1998”: Application of Federal Antitrust Laws to Major League
Baseball Players, by Janice E. Rubin.
In the 104th Congress, which was energized by the 1994 strike, more than a dozen measures to either make the antitrust
laws unqualifiedly and generally applicable to professional baseball, or applicable only to specific issues (e.g., player-
(continued...)
Congressional Research Service
38
Congressional Responses to Selected Work Stoppages in Professional Sports
to major league baseball players,126 clarifying that they are covered by the antitrust laws in
transactions concerning their employment to the same extent as are other professional athletes.127
Among the issues specifically not covered or affected (in addition to employment relations with
minor league players) is “the agreement [known as the ‘Professional Baseball Agreement’]
between organized professional major league baseball teams and the National Association of
Professional Baseball Leagues.”
We are not aware of any litigation brought pursuant to the Curt Flood Act: although the act does
get major league professional baseball players past the courthouse door by denying their
employers the “we’re-not-covered-by-the-antitrust-laws-so-this-case-must-be-dismissed”
argument, as the foregoing material has indicated. Once in court many professional athletes have
been frustrated in their attempts to challenge practices they consider onerous if those practices are
embodied in valid collective bargaining agreements. The Curt Flood Act neither prevents the
courts from recognizing the nonstatutory labor-antitrust exemption, nor provides guidance on the
interpretation of that exemption.
Author Contact Information
L. Elaine Halchin, Coordinator
Jon O. Shimabukuro
Specialist in American National Government
Legislative Attorney
ehalchin@crs.loc.gov, 7-0646
jshimabukuro@crs.loc.gov, 7-7990
Justin Murray
Kathleen Ann Ruane
Information Research Specialist
Legislative Attorney
jmurray@crs.loc.gov, 7-4092
kruane@crs.loc.gov, 7-9135
(...continued)
management relations), were introduced but not acted upon.
126 But explicitly not to minor league players pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §§ 26b(b) and 26b(b)(1), which state that “No court
shall rely on the enactment of this section as a basis for changing the application of the antitrust laws … any conduct,
acts, practices, or agreements [concerning] the business of organized professional baseball relating to or affecting
employment to play baseball at the minor league level,” and specifically not to “any reserve clause as applied to minor
league players.”
127 15 U.S.C. § 26b(a).
Congressional Research Service
39