"Curt Flood Act of 1998": Application of Federal Antitrust Laws to Major League Baseball Players

98-820 -- "Curt Flood Act of 1998": Application of Federal Antitrust Laws to Major League Baseball Players

Updated April 12, 2004

Summary

The "Curt Flood Act of 1998"(S. 53, 105th Congress)(1) was narrowly directed at altering just one aspect of the anomalous situation under which professional baseball operates with an "exemption" from the antitrust laws. The measure added a new section (§ 26b)(2) to the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 12 et seq.) to clarify that major league baseball players would be covered under the federal antitrust laws to the same extent as are other professional athletes, and defined "major league baseball players" as persons who are or were parties to major league players' contracts. It specifically did not purport to affect in any way, inter alia: (1) professional baseball's relations with "organized professional minor league baseball"; or (2) "the agreement between organized professional major league baseball teams and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues ("Professional Baseball Agreement"). Questions concerning whether the measure will be of substantial efficacy, however, remain, primarily owing to the existence of the judicially created labor-antitrust doctrine.