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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 26b. Application of antitrust laws to professional major league baseball
(a) Major league baseball subject to antitrust laws
Subject to subsections (b) through (d) of this section, the
conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons in the business
of organized professional major league baseball directly relating
to or affecting employment of major league baseball players to play
baseball at the major league level are subject to the antitrust
laws to the same extent such conduct, acts, practices, or
agreements would be subject to the antitrust laws if engaged in by
persons in any other professional sports business affecting
interstate commerce.
(b) Limitation of section
No court shall rely on the enactment of this section as a basis
for changing the application of the antitrust laws to any conduct,
acts, practices, or agreements other than those set forth in
subsection (a) of this section. This section does not create,
permit or imply a cause of action by which to challenge under the
antitrust laws, or otherwise apply the antitrust laws to, any
conduct, acts, practices, or agreements that do not directly relate
to or affect employment of major league baseball players to play
baseball at the major league level, including but not limited to -
(1) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons
engaging in, conducting or participating in the business of
organized professional baseball relating to or affecting
employment to play baseball at the minor league level, any
organized professional baseball amateur or first-year player
draft, or any reserve clause as applied to minor league players;
(2) the agreement between organized professional major league
baseball teams and the teams of the National Association of
Professional Baseball Leagues, commonly known as the
"Professional Baseball Agreement", the relationship between
organized professional major league baseball and organized
professional minor league baseball, or any other matter relating
to organized professional baseball's minor leagues;
(3) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons
engaging in, conducting or participating in the business of
organized professional baseball relating to or affecting
franchise expansion, location or relocation, franchise ownership
issues, including ownership transfers, the relationship between
the Office of the Commissioner and franchise owners, the
marketing or sales of the entertainment product of organized
professional baseball and the licensing of intellectual property
rights owned or held by organized professional baseball teams
individually or collectively;
(4) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements protected by
Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 et seq.) (commonly known
as the "Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961");
(5) the relationship between persons in the business of
organized professional baseball and umpires or other individuals
who are employed in the business of organized professional
baseball by such persons; or
(6) any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons not
in the business of organized professional major league baseball.
(c) Standing to sue
Only a major league baseball player has standing to sue under
this section. For the purposes of this section, a major league
baseball player is -
(1) a person who is a party to a major league player's
contract, or is playing baseball at the major league level; or
(2) a person who was a party to a major league player's
contract or playing baseball at the major league level at the
time of the injury that is the subject of the complaint; or
(3) a person who has been a party to a major league player's
contract or who has played baseball at the major league level,
and who claims he has been injured in his efforts to secure a
subsequent major league player's contract by an alleged violation
of the antitrust laws: Provided however, That for the purposes of
this paragraph, the alleged antitrust violation shall not include
any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons in the
business of organized professional baseball relating to or
affecting employment to play baseball at the minor league level,
including any organized professional baseball amateur or
first-year player draft, or any reserve clause as applied to
minor league players; or
(4) a person who was a party to a major league player's
contract or who was playing baseball at the major league level at
the conclusion of the last full championship season immediately
preceding the expiration of the last collective bargaining
agreement between persons in the business of organized
professional major league baseball and the exclusive collective
bargaining representative of major league baseball players.
(d) Conduct, acts, practices, or agreements subject to antitrust
laws
(1) As used in this section, "person" means any entity, including
an individual, partnership, corporation, trust or unincorporated
association or any combination or association thereof. As used in
this section, the National Association of Professional Baseball
Leagues, its member leagues and the clubs of those leagues, are not
"in the business of organized professional major league baseball".
(2) In cases involving conduct, acts, practices, or agreements
that directly relate to or affect both employment of major league
baseball players to play baseball at the major league level and
also relate to or affect any other aspect of organized professional
baseball, including but not limited to employment to play baseball
at the minor league level and the other areas set forth in
subsection (b) of this section, only those components, portions or
aspects of such conduct, acts, practices, or agreements that
directly relate to or affect employment of major league players to
play baseball at the major league level may be challenged under
subsection (a) of this section and then only to the extent that
they directly relate to or affect employment of major league
baseball players to play baseball at the major league level.
(3) As used in subsection (a) of this section, interpretation of
the term "directly" shall not be governed by any interpretation of
section 151 et seq. of title 29, United States Code (as amended).
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the
application to organized professional baseball of the nonstatutory
labor exemption from the antitrust laws.
(5) The scope of the conduct, acts, practices, or agreements
covered by subsection (b) of this section shall not be strictly or
narrowly construed.
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