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693 F.2d 1085

Docket No. 82-5282

Professional Baseball Schools & Clubs, Inc. v. Kuhn

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

Decided December 16, 1982

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 1982-12-16

2 counsel of record

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“Although it may be anomalous, the exclusion of the business of baseball from the antitrust laws is well established. Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258 , 92 S.Ct. 2099 , 32 L.Ed.2d 728 (1972); Toolson v. New York Yankees, 346 U.S. 356 , 74 S.Ct. 78 , 98 L.Ed. 64 (1953); Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. Na tional League of Professional Baseball Clubs, 259 U.S. 200 , 42 S.Ct. 465 , 66 L.Ed. 898 (1922). Each of the activities appellant alleged as violative of the antitrust laws plainly concerns matters that are an integral part of the business of baseball. The district court therefore properly dismissed the antitrust claims for want of subject matter jurisdiction.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 181 F. Supp. 2d 1316 - Major League Baseball v. Butterworth

“[T]he exclusion of the business of baseball from the antitrust laws is well established.”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 644 So. 2d 1021 - Butterworth v. NAT. BASEBALL CLUBS

Applies 15 U.S.C. § 1 (§ 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act) · 15 U.S.C. § 14 (§ 3 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914) · 15 U.S.C. § 15 (§ 4 of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914) · 28 U.S.C. § 1337

Relies on Flood v. Kuhn · Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs · Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Opinion by Per Curiam · Decided 1982-12-16

How this case has been cited

Cited by 9 later decisions — most recently April 2018

4 federal appellate · 1 state decisions

301982199020002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Non-Argument Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals,
Eleventh Circuit.

Dec. 16, 1982.

Alan E. Dubow, Coconut Grove, Fla., for plaintiff-appellant.

John F. Wendel, Lakeland, Fla., James P. Garner, Cleveland, Ohio, Louis L. Hoynes, Jr., New York City, for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before GODBOLD, Chief Judge, FAY and CLARK, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

¶1

This case concerns a dispute over a baseball franchise in the Carolina League. Professional Baseball Schools & Clubs, Inc., appellant here, brought suit in federal district court against the Commissioner of Baseball, the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues and its president, and the Carolina League of Professional Baseball Clubs and its president, alleging various violations of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts. 15 U.S.C. Secs. 1 & 2; 15 U.S.C. Sec. 14. The complaint also included a pendent state claim. The district court dismissed the complaint for want of subject matter jurisdiction. We affirm.

¶2

Appellant, holder of a baseball franchise in the Carolina League at the time this suit was filed, challenged the following activities of the defendants as violative of federal antitrust laws:

¶3

1. the player assignment system and the franchise location system,

¶4

2. monopolization of the business of professional baseball, and

¶5

3. the Carolina League's rule requiring member teams to only play games with other teams that also belong to the National Association.

¶6

Appellant also lodged a state law claim against the Carolina League and its president alleging reliance upon false promises.

¶7

The jurisdiction of the court was invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1337 and 15 U.S.C. Sec. 15.

¶8

Although it may be anomalous, the exclusion of the business of baseball from the antitrust laws is well established. Flood v. Kuhn, 407 U.S. 258, 92 S.Ct. 2099, 32 L.Ed.2d 728 (1972); Toolson v. New York Yankees, 346 U.S. 356, 74 S.Ct. 78, 98 L.Ed. 64 (1953); Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, 259 U.S. 200, 42 S.Ct. 465, 66 L.Ed. 898 (1922). Each of the activities appellant alleged as violative of the antitrust laws plainly concerns matters that are an integral part of the business of baseball. The district court therefore properly dismissed the antitrust claims for want of subject matter jurisdiction. Since no independent basis existed for federal jurisdiction of the state law claim, the district court properly dismissed it for want of subject matter jurisdiction. See Daniels v. All Steel Equipment, Inc., 590 F.2d 111, 114 (5th Cir.1979).

¶9

AFFIRMED.

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