an exemption from u.s. antitrust law is provided by
United States antitrust law
Second , professional sports leagues enjoy a number of exemptions . Mergers and joint agreements of professional football , hockey , baseball , and basketball leagues are exempt . Major League Baseball was held to be broadly exempt from antitrust law in Federal Baseball Club v. National League . Holmes J held that the baseball league 's organization meant that there was no commerce between the states taking place , even though teams travelled across state lines to put on the games . That travel was merely incidental to a business which took place in each state . It was subsequently held in 1952 in Toolson v. New York Yankees , and then again in 1972 Flood v. Kuhn , that the baseball league 's exemption was an `` aberration '' . However Congress had accepted it , and favored it , so retroactively overruling the exemption was no longer a matter for the courts , but the legislature . In United States v. International Boxing Club of New York , it was held that , unlike baseball , boxing was not exempt , and in Radovich v. National Football League ( NFL ) , professional football is generally subject to antitrust laws . As a result of the AFL - NFL merger , the National Football League was also given exemptions in exchange for certain conditions , such as not directly competing with college or high school football . However , the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in American Needle Inc. v. NFL characterised the NFL as a `` cartel '' of 32 independent businesses subject to antitrust law , not a single entity . 
Second , professional sports leagues enjoy a number of exemptions . Mergers and joint agreements of professional football , hockey , baseball , and basketball leagues are exempt . Major League Baseball was held to be broadly exempt from antitrust law in Federal Baseball Club v. National League . Holmes J held that the baseball league 's organization meant that there was no commerce between the states taking place , even though teams travelled across state lines to put on the games . That travel was merely incidental to a business which took place in each state . It was subsequently held in 1952 in Toolson v. New York Yankees , and then again in 1972 Flood v. Kuhn , that the baseball league 's exemption was an `` aberration '' . However Congress had accepted it , and favored it , so retroactively overruling the exemption was no longer a matter for the courts , but the legislature . In United States v. International Boxing Club of New York , it was held that , unlike baseball , boxing was not exempt , and in Radovich v. National Football League ( NFL ) , professional football is generally subject to antitrust laws . As a result of the AFL - NFL merger , the National Football League was also given exemptions in exchange for certain conditions , such as not directly competing with college or high school football . However , the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in American Needle Inc. v. NFL characterised the NFL as a `` cartel '' of 32 independent businesses subject to antitrust law , not a single entity .
Professional sports leagues enjoy a number of exemptions.  Major League Baseball was subsequently held in 1952 in Toolson v. New York Yankees, and then again in 1972 Flood v. Kuhn, that the baseball league's exemption was an ``aberration''.   However, Congress had accepted it, and favored it, so retroactively overruling the exemption was no longer a matter for the courts, but the legislature.
Second , professional sports leagues enjoy a number of exemptions . Major League Baseball was held to be broadly exempt from antitrust law in Federal Baseball Club v. National League . It was subsequently held in 1952 in Toolson v. New York Yankees , and then again in 1972 Flood v. Kuhn , that the baseball league 's exemption was an `` aberration '' . However Congress had accepted it , and favored it , so retroactively overruling the exemption was no longer a matter for the courts , but the legislature .
Professional sports leagues enjoy a number of exemptions. Major League Baseball was subsequently held in 1952 in Toolson v. New York Yankees, and then again in 1972 Flood v. Kuhn, that the baseball league's exemption was an ``aberration''. However, Congress had accepted it, and favored it, so retroactively overruling the exemption was no longer a matter for the courts, but the legislature. In United States v. International Boxing Club of New York, it was held that, unlike baseball, boxing was not exempt, and in Radovich v. National Football League (NFL), professional football is generally subject to antitrust laws.
Second , professional sports leagues enjoy a number of exemptions . Major League Baseball was held to be broadly exempt from antitrust law in Federal Baseball Club v. National League . It was subsequently held in 1952 in Toolson v. New York Yankees , and then again in 1972 Flood v. Kuhn , that the baseball league 's exemption was an `` aberration '' . However Congress had accepted it , and favored it , so retroactively overruling the exemption was no longer a matter for the courts , but the legislature . In United States v. International Boxing Club of New York , it was held that , unlike baseball , boxing was not exempt , and in Radovich v. National Football League ( NFL ) , professional football is generally subject to antitrust laws .