Background

The federal statute that codifies the Piazza-vs-San Jose conflict and partially resolves it in favor of the broad exemption. The Curt Flood Act of 1998 is the legislative product of 26 years of post-Flood-v-Kuhn debate. Congress chose to: (1) codify the Piazza narrow-exemption reading for player labor (Section 27(a)); (2) preserve the broad exemption for franchise relocation, minor league players, amateur draft, SBA conduct, and umpire/employee relations (Section 27(b)). The result is a doctrinally split statute that lets both sides claim partial victory: players got Sherman Act protection for their labor relations (matching what NFL, NBA, NHL players have); owners kept the structural exemption for everything else. The Act has been Section 3(b)-relevant in subsequent litigation: City of San Jose v. MLB (2015) — in this archive — specifically cited Section 27(b)(3) as preserving MLB's franchise relocation exemption. The Act has effectively never been used to bring a successful player-labor antitrust suit — the available remedies in collective-bargaining-protected matters generally route through the NLRA framework, not antitrust. The Act's joint-lobby origin is structurally unusual: MLB and the MLBPA jointly sought the legislation as part of the 1997 Basic Agreement deal (Article XXVIII). This is the only modern instance of management-labor cooperation to limit management's own existing legal protection. Doctrinal significance: this is the federal-statute basis for the question of why MLB still has an antitrust exemption. The exemption persists because Section 27(b) is still operative. The Piazza narrow reading is on the books, but only for player labor. Franchise relocation, the amateur draft, the SBA, and umpire relations all remain antitrust-exempt under federal law. The Act is named for Curt Flood — the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder whose 1969 challenge to the reserve clause (and 1972 SCOTUS loss in Flood v. Kuhn) precipitated the decades-long fight that culminated in this 1998 statute.

Key provisions

• Public Law 105-297, enacted October 27, 1998. 112 Stat. 2824.
• Short Title (Sec. 1): 'Curt Flood Act of 1998.'
• Purpose (Sec. 2): To clarify that MLB players are subject to antitrust laws to the same extent as players in other professional sports.
• Section 3 — Application of Antitrust Laws: Amends Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. § 12 et seq.) by adding Section 27.
• New Section 27(a) — Inclusive provision: '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.'
• New Section 27(b) — Carve-outs (preserving antitrust exemption): Subsection (a) does NOT apply to: (1) organized professional baseball amateur draft, reserve clause as applied to minor league players, the Professional Baseball Agreement; (2) franchise expansion, location, or relocation, including ownership transfers, and the relationship between the Commissioner and franchise owners; (3) Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 conduct (15 U.S.C. § 1291 et seq.); (4) the relationship between organized baseball and umpires or other employees.
• New Section 27(c) — Definition: 'persons' includes individuals, partnerships, corporations, unincorporated associations, or any combination thereof.
• New Section 27(d) — Standing limitations: Limits who can bring claims under the Act.

Notable provisions

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.— Curt Flood Act of 1998, Sec. 3 (Clayton Act Sec. 27(a))

Subsection (a) does not apply to … 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, any organized professional baseball amateur or first-year player draft, or any reserve clause as applied to minor league players.— Curt Flood Act of 1998, Sec. 3 (Clayton Act Sec. 27(b)(1)) — minor league carve-out

Subsection (a) does not apply to … any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements of persons 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…— Curt Flood Act of 1998, Sec. 3 (Clayton Act Sec. 27(b)(3)) — franchise carve-out

Subsection (a) does not apply to … any conduct, acts, practices, or agreements protected by Public Law 87-331 (15 U.S.C. § 1291 et seq.) (commonly known as the 'Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961').— Curt Flood Act of 1998, Sec. 3 (Clayton Act Sec. 27(b)(4)) — SBA carve-out

Further context

Curt Flood Act of 1998 — Public Law 105-297

The federal statute that partially narrowed baseball's antitrust exemption. Phase 1 wantlist hit cleared. 4 pages.

What the Act does

Adds Section 27 to the Clayton Act:

• Sec. 27(a): MLB players' labor relations are subject to federal antitrust law (the Piazza-narrow reading).
• Sec. 27(b): Carve-outs preserving the exemption for amateur draft, minor league players, franchise relocation, SBA conduct, umpire/employee labor relations (the San Jose-broad reading).

Why this is the legislative resolution of the Piazza-vs-San-Jose conflict

The Act splits the antitrust-exemption baby:

• Codifies the Piazza narrow reading for player labor.
• Preserves the San Jose broad reading for everything else.

The 2015 City of San Jose v. MLB ruling (in archive) specifically cited Section 27(b)(3) as preserving MLB's franchise relocation exemption.

The joint-lobby origin

Article XXVIII of the 1997-2001 Basic Agreement (also in archive) committed MLB and the MLBPA to jointly lobby Congress for this Act. Structurally unusual labor-management cooperation.

Related documents

• 1997-10-29_report_curt-flood-act-congressional-report.md — the Senate Report (legislative history).
• 1972-06-19_caselaw_flood-v-kuhn.md — the case Justice Blackmun invited Congress to legislate after.
• 1993-08-04_caselaw_piazza-v-mlb.md — the case whose narrow exemption reading the Act partially codifies.
• 2015-01-15_caselaw_city-of-san-jose-v-mlb.md — the 9th Cir. case that relied on Sec. 27(b)(3) carve-outs.
• 1996-12-07_cba_mlb-cba-1997-2001.md — the CBA whose Article XXVIII drove the joint lobby effort.

Verification status

needs_review. Single source (congress.gov GPO).

Related documents

Related documents

Curt Flood Act Senate Report (S. Rept. 105-118), Flood v. Kuhn, Piazza v. MLB, City of San Jose v. Office of the Comm'r of Baseball, 1997-2001 MLB Basic Agreement

Source provenance

• Primary source