Boston Herald Calls to Terminate Major League Baseball’s Anti-Trust Exemption

The Boston Herald called for the termination of Major Leagues Baseball’s (MLB) antitrust exemption in an editorial Tuesday.

“The anti-trust exemption for Major League Baseball has been debated for years — it’s time to end the league’s special status. As its recent actions have shown, it’s not just a sport,” the paper said.

“The MLB chose to politicize baseball by aligning its placement of the All-Star Game with the Democratic agenda,” which will cost Atlanta “about $100 million — money the state sorely needs as it struggles to recover from the revenue-gutting hit of the coronavirus pandemic,” they said about the game’s relocation to Denver.

The Boston Herald also claimed the MLB did not get their facts straight about Georgia’s election integrity law, which led MLB to oppose the legislation initially, writing, “The ability to get the facts straight about the new law apparently did not factor into the decision.”

The Herald continued, “Misinformation about the details of the voting law are widely touted as fact, and corporations have dutifully jumped on the condemnation bandwagon, notably Georgia-based businesses Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines.

“Provisions of the law actually expand voting access,” the paper went on, skewering Democrat talking points that say people in line to vote are not allowed to be given water. “And no, grandma won’t die of thirst while waiting to vote.”

Breitbart News reported Saturday the potential of terminating MLB’s antitrust exemption by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), who have joined Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) in calling to terminate MLB’s antitrust exemption.

“Why does @MLB still have antitrust immunity? It’s time for the federal government to stop granting special privileges to specific, favored corporations—especially those that punish their political opponents,” Lee said. Later, Cruz responded to Lee, “EXACTLY right. And @SenMikeLee & I will be working hard to END MLB’s antitrust immunity.”

A 1922 Supreme Court decision ruled the MLB is a sport and not a business, handing an antitrust exemption to the MLB, which excludes The National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League.