Professional Baseball Schools and Clubs, Inc. v. Kuhn, 82-5282
| Decision Date | 16 December 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-5282,82-5282 |
| Parties | 1982-83 Trade Cases 65,089 PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL SCHOOLS AND CLUBS, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Bowie K. KUHN, as Commissioner of Organized Baseball; National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, and John H. Johnson, as President; The Carolina League of Professional Baseball Clubs, Inc., a North Carolina corporation, and James B. Mills, as President, Defendants-Appellees. Non-Argument Calendar. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
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.
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.
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:
1. the player assignment system and the franchise location system,
2. monopolization of the business of professional baseball, and
3. the Carolina League's rule requiring member teams to only play games with other teams that also belong to the National Association.
Appellant also lodged a state law claim against the Carolina League and its president alleging reliance upon false promises.
The jurisdiction of the court was invoked pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1337 and 15 U.S.C. Sec. 15.
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...
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