RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is showing his support to a group of minor league teams that want the U.S. Supreme Court to end Major League Baseball's decades-long immunity to U.S. antitrust law.
On Monday, Miyares joined a bipartisan coalition of 17 state attorneys general in an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the Major League Baseball antitrust exemption, which officials say has unfairly impacted dozens of minor league teams nationwide, including Virginia’s Bristol, Danville, and Pulaski affiliates.
In 2020, officials say an agreement among 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) teams was reached. This agreement cut affiliated minor league teams from 160 to 120. In addition, 38 other teams across 23 states lost the ability to compete for Minor League talent and all financial support they had from their Major League affiliates.
Officials say in any other sport or business, the agreement to restrict competition would have been prohibited by state and federal antitrust laws, which are designed to protect consumers and promote competition. But baseball is exempted from all antitrust laws, both state and federal, due to a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
Officials say the amicus brief will block enforcement of state antitrust laws even though Congress never intended to preempt those state laws. It also highlights the powerful economic and cultural role that minor league baseball plays in towns across the United States.
“I urge the Supreme Court to protect minor league baseball teams here in Virginia, and throughout the nation. Baseball is the national pastime, and the Court should reverse the antiquated decision that allows the MLB to eliminate minor league clubs, punish their fans, and disappoint communities that love their local teams,” said Attorney General Miyares.
Virginia Attorney General Miyares joined the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia in filing Monday's brief.
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