On Friday, several United States senators announced that they will introduce legislation to strip Major League Baseball of its antitrust exemption.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida tweeted a joint statement crafted between himself and fellow Republican senators Mike Lee (Utah), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Missouri), pointing to “recent controversies” for the proposed bill.
However, the full statement, posted on Lee’s website, actually spells out the reasoning for this latest attempt:
WASHINGTON – Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a groundbreaking bill to repeal a century-old judicially-created exemption that grants Major League Baseball (MLB) a unique advantage over other professional sports leagues when it comes to antitrust laws. The proposed legislation aims to promote fair competition within baseball and ensure a level playing field for all teams and leagues, particularly in light of recent controversies surrounding the Dodgers Pride Night and the relocation of the All-Star Game from Atlanta.
Rubio has had MLB in his crosshairs for several weeks. In mid-May, he joined the Catholic League in airing grievances over the Los Angeles Dodgers’ initial invitation of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to their annual Pride Night. In addition to their community work, the Sisters are known for satirical performances that have mocked the Catholic Church’s historically conservative stances about homosexuality. Both the advocacy group and Florida’s senior senator wrote letters to Commissioner Rob Manfred, questioning why the invitation was extended. On May 17, in a since-deleted tweet, the Dodgers announced that they rescinded their invitation to the Sisters, drawing praise from the right. However, they reversed back to their original course and reinvited the group after backlash from LGBTQ+ groups.
As for the relocated All-Star Game, MLB pulled the Midseason Classic from Atlanta after Georgia’s state legislature passed the highly combative Election Integrity Act, which was considered to have a severe effect on the voting rights of minorities in the state. After public and corporate pressures, MLB moved the game to Denver. Cruz, Hawley and Lee pushed to remove the league’s exemption at the time as a result.
Limiting or removing the exemption has been a bipartisan affair for decades for various reasons. The last serious discussion over baseball’s special clause came from the Justice Department when it asked a federal judge to narrow the scope of the exemption after MLB took over the management of the minor leagues and cut several franchises from their affiliation with major league clubs.
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