Antitrust Exemption

Baseball's 73-year-old exemption from antitrust laws sustained at least a temporary jolt yesterday when the Senate Judiciary Committee, for the first time ever, sent to the full Senate a bill calling for partial repeal of the exemption.The legislation, approved by a 9-8 vote, would repeal the antitrust exemption in labor matters, freeing the players to use the courts as players in other sports have done. It would not affect the minor leagues, the amateur draft or franchise relocation.Committee members said afterward that a vote in the full Senate would be close, but that the measure might pass.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig took his lumps from members of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, but he stuck to his contention that Major League Baseball is in dire financial trouble and needs to eliminate two franchises to improve the industry's revenue picture. Selig traveled to Washington to appear before the committee, which called for a review of baseball's antitrust exemption after club owners voted in November to close two teams - believed to be the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos - before the start of the 2002 season.

WASHINGTON -- The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday turned back a scaled-down version of the proposed bill to withdraw Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption, apparently increasing the likelihood of a late-season players strike.The committee voted 10-7 against sending the bill to the Senate floor, even after its sponsor -- Ohio Democrat Howard Metzenbaum -- reduced the scope of the measure drastically in an attempt to bring it to a full vote.The amended version would have removed antitrust protection only as it related to baseball's troubled labor situation, giving the players union the ability to sue the owners in federal court rather than interrupt the season with a strike.

WASHINGTON -- Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White said settlement talks with the NFL are going "appropriately" but would not elaborate on them yesterday after the U.S. Conference of Mayors held a task force on sports franchise relocation.White, who co-chaired the task force with Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, recommended several resolutions to the conference's executive committee that would aid congressional legislators in regulating professional sports."The message to the league is that the mayors of these cities are concerned about the NFL franchises on wheels," White said.

WASHINGTON -- To increase competition in the market for medical care, White House officials are recommending that the health insurance industry be stripped of its long-standing immunity from federal antitrust law.The proposal reflects the concern of administration officials and consumer advocates that a handful of big insurance companies may soon dominate the industry, especially if Congress approves the plan President Clinton is developing to overhaul U.S....

WASHINGTON -- Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White said settlement talks with the NFL are going "appropriately" but would not elaborate on them yesterday after the U.S. Conference of Mayors held a task force on sports franchise relocation.White, who co-chaired the task force with Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, recommended several resolutions to the conference's executive committee that would aid congressional legislators in regulating professional sports."The message to the league is that the mayors of these cities are concerned about the NFL franchises on wheels," White said.

WASHINGTON -- Despite the lobbying efforts of NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, members of the Maryland delegation said it is unlikely that Congress will be able to help the league keep the Cleveland Browns from moving to Baltimore.One day after Tagliabue testified before a Senate subcommittee, Ohio Sens. John Glenn and Mike DeWine and Rep. Louis Stokes introduced legislation yesterday known as the Fans Rights Act, which, among other things, provides the NFL with a limited antitrust exemption to allow it to control franchise relocation.

PHOENIX -- Major league baseball owners gave "preliminary approval" yesterday to three-division realignment within the National and American leagues, interleague play and expansion of the playoffs from four to eight teams, beginning with the 1995 season.Milwaukee Brewer owner Bud Selig, the commissioner pro-tem, said the "sentiment was overwhelming in favor" at a meeting of all 28 clubs of adding four teams and an extra week to the postseason. Asked if there was much opposition, Mr. Selig replied: "There were no cases of cardiac arrest."

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig took his lumps from members of the House Judiciary Committee yesterday, but he stuck to his contention that Major League Baseball is in dire financial trouble and needs to eliminate two franchises to improve the industry's revenue picture. Selig traveled to Washington to appear before the committee, which called for a review of baseball's antitrust exemption after club owners voted in November to close two teams - believed to be the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos - before the start of the 2002 season.

AT THE NLRB The players union is expected to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board, challenging the legitimacy of ownership's impasse declaration and accusing management of bargaining in bad faith. The charges will be filed in New York, where complaints are almost certain to be issued. That would lead to a hearing before an administrative law judge and a ruling that likely would be appealed to a three-judge NLRB panel by the losing party. From there, the case could go to the federal circuit court and remain hung up in litigation for months or years.

WASHINGTON -- Despite the lobbying efforts of NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, members of the Maryland delegation said it is unlikely that Congress will be able to help the league keep the Cleveland Browns from moving to Baltimore.One day after Tagliabue testified before a Senate subcommittee, Ohio Sens. John Glenn and Mike DeWine and Rep. Louis Stokes introduced legislation yesterday known as the Fans Rights Act, which, among other things, provides the NFL with a limited antitrust exemption to allow it to control franchise relocation.

Baseball's 73-year-old exemption from antitrust laws sustained at least a temporary jolt yesterday when the Senate Judiciary Committee, for the first time ever, sent to the full Senate a bill calling for partial repeal of the exemption.The legislation, approved by a 9-8 vote, would repeal the antitrust exemption in labor matters, freeing the players to use the courts as players in other sports have done. It would not affect the minor leagues, the amateur draft or franchise relocation.Committee members said afterward that a vote in the full Senate would be close, but that the measure might pass.

Baseball owners are willing to go a long way to claim a victory in the game's bitter labor dispute -- even to another sport.The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the National Basketball Association yesterday, dismissing a union claim that the NBA's salary cap violates federal antitrust laws. The court said that antitrust laws do not apply in cases where a collective bargaining relationship exists, and baseball owners quickly seized on the decision as proof that Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption is not a significant factor in the sport's long-running labor war."

AT THE NLRB The players union is expected to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board, challenging the legitimacy of ownership's impasse declaration and accusing management of bargaining in bad faith. The charges will be filed in New York, where complaints are almost certain to be issued. That would lead to a hearing before an administrative law judge and a ruling that likely would be appealed to a three-judge NLRB panel by the losing party. From there, the case could go to the federal circuit court and remain hung up in litigation for months or years.

The knee-jerk response: The Major League Baseball Players Association lost its last hope of getting the labor portion of baseball's antitrust exemption removed when the Republicans took control of Congress. After all, Republicans always side with management.Reality: The players' desire to retain certain freedoms stand closer to Republican principles than do the desires of owners, who want to impose a socialistic salary cap aimed at controlling wages and curbing competitive imbalance.It's not as if Republicans have a difficult time relating to ballplayers, who reached an average salary of $1.2 million in 1994.

WASHINGTON -- Congress continued its efforts yesterday to restrict the baseball owners' antitrust exemption when the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would apply antitrust laws to any effort to unilaterally impose work rules, such as the owners' proposed salary cap.The chances of the bill's moving through both houses before Congress' expected adjournment Oct. 7 still are doubtful.Still, Rep. Mike Synar, D-Okla., the bill's co-sponsor, remains hopeful the bill could go before the full House during the current session.

Marvin Miller, the former head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, changed baseball's labor situation forever with arbitration and free agency.Today Miller envisions a whole new ballgame. If the strike cancels the World Series and the owners declare a labor impasse and implement a salary cap, Miller said the striking players could be working for a rival league next season."If there are some real entrepreneurs out there, you might see some competition for the first time," Miller said.