Consider some important Supreme Court cases on sports that don’t involve economics. If you were on the Court, how would you decide?

The story of Curt Flood is a lesson in the separation of powers, checks and balances, race, economics, and power. This essay examines how a trio of questionable Supreme Court decisions—Federal Baseball (1922), Toolson (1953), and Flood (1972)—have allowed MLB to act as a legal monopoly.

Major League Baseball (MLB) enjoys an exemption from the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts, which allows it to act as a monopoly. This article breaks down what that antitrust exemption means for MLB.