Senator asks minor leaguers for information on MLB antitrust law

Washington — The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman and minority ranking members have sent a letter to advocacy groups for minor leaguers asking about the exemption of baseball antitrust law.

Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Charles Glasley, Republican of Iowa, who chair the committee, sent a letter to Harry Marino, managing director of minor leaguer supporters, on Tuesday. .. The letter, first reported by the Washington Post, was also signed by Senator Richard Blumenthal of D-Connecticut and Senator Mike Leigh of R-Utah.

Senators sought information on “the impact of antitrust tax exemptions on negotiations on contract terms, wages, housing and other working conditions for minor league players.”

The antitrust exemption for baseball is the United States in a 1922 proceeding, including the Federal League, written by Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes in a decision that baseball is not an interstate trade and that exhibitions are exempt from antitrust law. Created by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reaffirmed the 1953 proceedings involving the New York Yankees farmer George Toolson and the 1972 Curt Flood ruling, stating that any changes should come from Congress. ..

The Curt Flood Act of 1998, signed by President Bill Clinton, applies antitrust laws to MLB that affect the hiring of major league players at the major league level.

Perhaps the biggest impact of tax exemption is that MLB can prevent franchises from moving to another city without MLB’s permission.

In a lawsuit filed by four minor league teams this month, the U.S. Department of Justice said, “Lower courts should limit the’baseball exemption’, which is the core of the business that makes professional baseball games public.” A proceeding by a team that lost their position in the Big League when MLB cut a minor before the 2021 season is pending in the US District Court in Manhattan.

When the Save America Entertainment Act was enacted in 2018, Congress exempted minor league players from the federal minimum wage and overtime law.

A letter from the Senator asked what the implications of abolishing the act would be.

MLB and minor leaguers reached a settlement in April in a lengthy proceeding in which the team allegedly violated the Minimum Wage Act. The two, familiar with the negotiations, spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details were not allowed to be disclosed, saying the possibility of a settlement was in the $ 200 million range. Both sides sought permission from a federal court in California to submit by July 11 to obtain approval for the settlement.

MLB declined to comment.