NEW YORK — A federal appeals court in Manhattan on Tuesday ruled that Major League Baseball remains exempt from a lawsuit filed by the Tri-City ValleyCats and three other minor league teams that sued the league after it dropped them as MLB affiliates in 2020.
An exemption dating to 1922 shields MLB from antitrust lawsuits, such as the ValleyCats’ legal claims alleging that MLB violated Section 1 of the 1890 Sherman Act when it eliminated the ValleyCats as an affiliate of the Houston Astros in 2020, according to the ruling by a tribunal of justices on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
The attorney for the minor league teams, however, said the decision paves the way for him to bring the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“For us, this is exactly what we wanted,” Manhattan-based attorney James Quinn told the Times Union. “Only the Supreme Court can overrule their own precedent. The lower courts can’t. Now we’re going to have a shot at getting to the Supreme Court. And we think if we get to the Supreme Court, we have a very good chance at getting the exemption overruled, and then we move forward.”
In June 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the NCAA and in favor of current and former student-athletes in Division I football and basketball; the plaintiffs alleged that the NCAA, in limiting compensation for the athletes’ services, violated the Sherman Act’s prohibition of contracts, combinations or conspiracies that restrain free trade, Quinn noted.
Quinn said MLB’s antitrust litigation exception is an anomaly that does not exist in the National Football League, National Basketball Association or National Hockey League.
“That’s why we have brought this case — to get rid of it,” Quinn said. He said he has 90 days to apply to the Supreme Court to ask it to hear the case. If successful, the plaintiffs could receive compensation in…
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