Key Republican senators have launched a push to take away Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption in response to the league’s decision to pull its All-Star Game from Atlanta.
On Friday, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred announced his decision that the league would remove its 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta in response to the state of Georgia’s decision to reform its voting laws.
“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, the Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views. I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.”
Representative Jeff Duncan (R, SC) was among the first to highlight baseball’s antitrust exemption as an area to target in retaliation for the league caving to liberal politicians and social justice activists.
“In light of @MLB‘s stance to undermine election integrity laws, I have instructed my staff to begin drafting legislation to remove Major League Baseball’s federal antitrust exception,” Duncan wrote in a tweet.
GOP Senator Mike Lee of Utah captioned Duncan’s tweet with a message that said it was time for the government to stop granting “specific privileges” to “favored corporations.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R, TX) responded to Lee and Duncan by saying, “EXACTLY right.”
Cruz later tweeted a list of MLB’s corporate sponsors. Many of which were among those who pressured the league to pull the All-Star Game from Atlanta.
“Do all of them oppose voter ID?” Cruz tweeted. “Are all of them willing to be the woke enforcers of the corrupt Democratic Party? And do all hate the 75m who voted for Trump?”
According to the Hill:
Baseball’s antitrust exemption dates back to a 1922 Supreme Court decision, and under the 1998 Curt Flood Act passed by Congress, MLB players maintain the same rights as other professional athletes under antitrust laws, but other aspects of the sport are exempt, including franchise relocation and broadcast negotiations.
Other professional sport leagues, including the NFL and NBA, do not have this exemption.
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